SWR: Imperial Rebels
by Anzac-A1
Summary: Takes place from "The Siege of Lothal" onwards. When Maketh Tua makes the daring choice to defect from the Empire, she is aided by her one trusted ally; a Stormtrooper named Vin Maral. This is the tale of this pair of unlikely rebels, as they join the crew of the Ghost in their fight against Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire. Rated M for violence and future adult themes.
1. Chapter 1: The Siege of Lothal

**AN:** Greetings, fellow Star Wars Rebels fans. Anzac-A1 here, with my first ever SWR fanfic.

I've had the rough idea for this in my head pretty much since I first saw Episode 1 of Season 2, mostly because Minister Tua has to be my favourite character, even though she doesn't get very screen time or character development. The inspiration for this story came from the fanfic _Tales from the Other Side_ by _**Mysty Star**_ , which is so far the only SWR fanfic I've seen where Minister Tua survives, and I was inspired as this fanfic sort of rushes through the episode, without very much detail.

Anyhoo, let's get started with the story!

 **AN #2:** For reference, Vin Maral's voice (if he were in the show) would be provided by Dante Basco, specifically his performance as Prince Zuko in _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.

* * *

 _Chapter 1: The Siege of Lothal_

"But I-I'm needed here! I-I couldn't possibly get away!"

"Not to worry, Minister. Lord Vader and I will manage…in your absence."

As the cold, grey door slid shut, Maketh Tua slumped back into her chair, her face falling into her hands, as she desperately tried to hold back the tears that threatened to burst forth.

The Minister had, for years, prided herself on her strength of will. She was not some weak-willed nobody, she had effectively governed Lothal by herself for a not inconsiderable length, due to Governor Pryce's frequent and often lengthy absences. Honestly, she couldn't fathom how the woman had managed to maintain her position, when it was apparent that she rarely even tried to do her job!

And yet, for all her self-affirmation, now that she was alone and ensconced within her office, Maketh couldn't stop her body from shaking with fear. She knew full well what fate likely awaited her, at the hands of Grand Moff Tarkin, or more likely his chosen firing squad. But she was merely an Imperial Minister! None of her lessons at the Imperial Academy had included information on how to deal with rebels, much less ones as adept and organised as the group based on Lothal! And yet she was being blamed for failing to apprehend them, while Agent Kallus, the man who had ACTUALLY been brought in initially to deal with the situation was apparently getting off scot-free!

Maketh let out a shaky breath, that she hadn't even realised she'd been holding, her hands dropping into her lap as she sat back in her seat. In all honesty, she wasn't surprised things were turning out this way. Lord Vader was well known for his ruthlessness, and it was far more convenient and practical to pin the blame on a mere civil servant rather than a prominent ISB agent. It would make it seem as though the rebels were much less of a threat than they really were.

" _Not that accepting it helps me any."_ Maketh thought. Suddenly, the door to her office slid open again, causing her to quickly compose herself, in case Vader or Kallus had returned unexpectedly. Looking up, she realised it was just a Stormtrooper, and therefore nothing for her to worry about, at least not yet.

"Minister, is everything alright?" the Trooper asked, his voice unusually calming to the still-rattled woman.

"Y-Yes, everything is fine, Trooper. Thank you." Maketh replied, inwardly cursing herself for stuttering. To his credit, the Trooper seemed to not notice. He nodded, before stepping back out, closing the door behind him. Maketh felt her body relax slightly, grateful for the brief distraction. With nothing better to do, she powered up her terminal, searching for a few seconds before pulling up the personnel file she was looking for.

Stormtrooper TK-740, formerly known as Vin Maral, before, as with all Stormtroopers, his name had been taken away, replaced with a mere set of letters and digits. He'd been assigned to Maketh as her personal guard when she first officially took over as head of Imperial operations on Lothal, a little over a year ago. Originally from Coruscant, his file contained little regarding his background, and Maketh had heard rumours that he'd been an orphan living on the streets, before an Imperial officer recommended him to the Imperial Academy after catching him attempting to pickpocket the officer in question. Maketh had come to rely on Maral quite a bit more than had expected, and definitely more than protocol allowed. The Trooper had proved more than capable, protecting the Minister from several assassination attempts by various dissenters, while also offering Maketh someone to converse with when she felt stressed or overwhelmed, without the fear of anything getting out and ruining her reputation. In fact, Maketh had begun to suspect that Maral's loyalties lay more with her than with the Emperor, a man he'd never met or even seen.

" _If that's the case, then I might just have a way out of this."_ She thought. Maketh had heard rumours about a cantina in the remote outpost of Jhothal, that the rebels supposedly frequented. She'd never given the rumours any attention before, but now they presented her only opportunity for escape. If the rumours were true, then someone there might be willing to contact the rebels for her, allowing her to ask for passage off Lothal. However, she knew the rebels would likely never simply agree to help someone like her. She would need something to offer in exchange, some the rebels couldn't resist.

A plan now formed in her mind, Maketh quickly set about preparing her bargaining chip; a list of individuals sympathetic to the rebels' cause , both on Lothal and in other nearby star systems, who had only remained free due to having powerful allies within the Imperial Senate. With the information stored on a datacard, and any trace of her activities erased, Maketh called her guard back inside her office.

"Minister, you called?" He asked.

"Yes Trooper, I did. I need to step out for a moment. If anyone asks, tell them I'm busy and have asked not to be disturbed." She explained.

"Understood, Minister Tua. Stay safe." He replied. She nodded, before making her way through the door, heading towards the outside.

She could only hope her gamble would pay off.

* * *

Hours later, Minister Tua found herself riding along in a two-person airspeeder, piloted by Agent Kallus. She'd been suspicious when the agent had offered to escort her to the shuttle, but decided to play along, lest Kallus become suspicious of her as a result. In any event, she'd already sent Maral on ahead of her an hour earlier, to ensure that everything was in order, and more importantly, that she would have one less anonymous Stormtrooper to worry about. Maketh was broken from her contemplation, as the speeder pulled up outside the hangar entrance. Three regular Troopers along with a lone Stormtrooper Commander were waiting outside the entrance, all armed with their standard-issue E-11 blaster rifles, and Maketh could see another Trooper just exiting from the hangar as they arrived. Unlike the others, this Trooper was carrying a DLT-19 heavy blaster rifle, which told Maketh that it was Maral. She knew he favoured the heavier blaster for its long-range capabilities, which were ideally suited to planets with large, clear, open areas, like Lothal. As she exited the speeder, Maketh turned to face Kallus.

"Thank you, Agent Kallus. There-There was no need for an escort." She said, struggling to keep herself calm and composed. She could feel her heartrate increasing, as her nerves started to betray her once again.

"Lord Vader asked me to make sure you reached your shuttle safely." Kallus replied, looking decidedly smug, as he usually did. In spite of herself, Maketh hesitated slightly in responding.

"I see." She replied, stepping past the agent, allowing her false smile to disappear. She was getting increasingly nervous. What if the rebels weren't actually there?

"We can't be too careful about security these days". Kallus said, following a short distance behind her. At the same time, she noticed Maral approach them.

"Minister, I've had the shuttle fully prepared and readied for take-off, as per your instructions." He explained, standing to attention before the group.

"Excellent. Thank you, Trooper." Maketh replied.

"Minister, might I ask what is going on here?" Kallus asked, moving up to stand to Maketh's right.

"Ah yes, I forget you haven't been introduced." Maketh replied, gesturing towards Maral, who continued standing to attention. "This is Stormtrooper TK-740, assigned to be my personal guard on Lothal. I sent him ahead to make sure there weren't any delays with the shuttle. I wouldn't want to keep Lord Vader and Governor Tarkin waiting."

"I see, very well. We should be on our way, then." Kallus replied.

"Yes, I suppose so." Maketh replied. Suddenly, she heard someone drop to the ground behind them.

"Hey!" a female voice shouted. As everyone turned to face source of the voice, Maketh saw that it was the same Mandalorian girl she'd met on the shuttle a while back.

" _The rebels! They're here!"_ she thought, her heart filled with joy. She was going to make it! The Mandalorian girl whipped out a pair of blaster pistols and opened fire, causing the Stormtroopers apart from the Commander and Maral to scatter and hastily return fire.

"Minister, get to cover!" Kallus shouted, as he quickly drew his own blaster pistol and opened fire. Maketh did just that, hurrying into the main hangar area, with Maral just behind her. The trooper had his blaster trained on the Mandalorian girl, but held his fire. To anyone else, it would've appeared that he was refraining from opening fire as Agent Kallus was in the way. In reality, Maketh had briefly explained her plan to him earlier, and he knew to avoid firing his weapon if at all possible. As the pair moved away from the main firefight, the Stormtrooper Commander slammed his left fist against the hangar door control, shutting the other Troopers outside with the Mandalorian, before turning to face Kallus. Apparently, one of the rebels had elected to disguise himself, and it had worked flawlessly.

"Surprise!" the Trooper remarked, after which he blasted the door controls, effectively cutting Kallus off from his men.

"Rebels." Kallus growled, opening fire on the rogue Trooper, who skilfully dodged every shot, taking cover behind several crates. Maketh and Maral took cover behind another pile of crates, just as a young boy and a green-skinned female Twi'lek jumped down from the hangar roof and joined them, along with the rogue Trooper.

"Minister, both of you get to the shuttle! We'll be right behind you!" the boy explained.

"Right!" Maketh replied, before she and Maral made a break for the _Sentinel_ -class shuttle, with Maral leading the way. Just as they entered the shuttle, Maral spotted something; a laser trip-line…that they'd just broken. And that meant only one thing.

"Minister!" he shouted, wheeling around and shielding her with his body, just as the interior of the shuttle was torn apart by a massive explosion. The blast threw both of them well clear of the shuttle, landing them on the ground next to each other. Thanks to Maral's quick reaction, Maketh found herself unharmed, if rather dazed by the short flight. Although Maral had taken the brunt of the explosion, his armour had demonstrated its superb blast protection capability, leaving him with only a few bad bruises on his back. "Minister, are you alright?" he asked. Maketh managed to nod in reply, as she felt herself hyperventilating slightly.

"Ye-Yes, I-I'm alright." She managed to say, her whole body still in a bit of shock. "You?" she asked, to which Maral shrugged.

"If there's one thing this armour does protect you from, its explosions." He replied. The rebels hurried over to them, with the one in the Stormtrooper Commander armour now carrying his helmet, and the Mandalorian now visible up on the hangar roof, seemingly talking to someone via comlink.

"No!" Kallus roared, as the hangar doors opened again, allowing a dozen Stormtroopers to storm in, all firing on the group, which quickly dove behind another lot of stacked crates. Maral hefted his DLT-19, firing off short bursts of fire, forcing the opposing Troopers to spread out and find cover, just as a red/white Star Commuter Shuttle descended out of the now smoke-filled sky above. The left-side hatch was open, with a male Lasat standing on the open ramp.

"Come on!" he shouted, while firing in the direction of the Stormtroopers to hold them back. As soon as the shuttle landed, the group rushed over, piling through the open hatch as quickly as possible. Once they were all inside, the piloting astromech immediately lifted the shuttle back into the air, as the Troopers below continued to fire into the ship's hull, with little result. Once level with the hangar roof, the Mandalorian also jumped onboard, closing the hatch behind her. The shuttle then turned left and flew away, leaving the hangar behind. Seconds later, the shuttle was rocked by two heavy impacts to the rear, clearly the impacts of two, powerful, blaster cannon shots, which took out the shuttle's engines, causing the ship to nose down violently before slamming into the deserted street below. As the craft slid to a stop, alarms blaring on the console, everyone inside struggled to pick themselves up from the rough, forced landing. The Mandalorian girl was the first on her feet, and began urging everyone else to do the same.

"Come on, come! Everybody, we're moving!" she shouted, rushing over to hatch, opening it before dashing through, past a few startled residents. The rest of the group followed close behind her, ducking down a nearby alley, as the people behind them stared in disbelief at the wrecked shuttle.

* * *

Later, the group had temporarily taken refuge inside an abandoned house in one of the city's older districts, which Maketh determined used to be the young boy's family home, judging by his knowledge of the area and possession of the door's keycard. She, the Twi'lek, the Mandalorian, and the man wearing the Stormtrooper armour were currently stood within a hidden basement room, while Maral stood guard upstairs with the astromech. At the moment, the group down below was watching the latest Imperial broadcast, regarding the events that had just transpired.

" _Beloved citizens of Lothal, Minister Tua has betrayed the Empire and you, her people, by conspiring directly with this criminal band of rebels."_ The announcer explained, as the image switched to a shot of the group in front of the burning shuttle. _"If you see them, summon Imperial authorities immediately. Trooper Corps have been mobilised in an extensive se-"_. The voice was cut off as the female Twi'lek turned the broadcast off, a hand held to her forehead in frustration.

"They did this to turn Lothal against us. We can't do any more here. We have to leave…for good." She explained. Maketh removed her hat and held it in her hands, feeling terrible at the other woman's words.

"It's my fault. You wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for my selfish request." She mused, unable to meet anyone's eyes.

"Minister?" the boy said, causing Maketh to look up at him. "We're the ones who agreed to help you, because it's what we do. This isn't your fault." He explained, smiling the whole time. Maketh couldn't help but smile gratefully in response.

"Thank you, all of you." She replied.

"Besides, we can't just run." The boy continued. "The people have to know the truth."

"I don't think the Empire is giving us much choice." The Mandalorian girl replied, standing up. Suddenly, they heard the doors above being cut open, before a series of rapid blaster shots rang out, and the doors were quickly shut again. Moments later, Maral appeared at the top of the entrance to the lower room.

"We need to move, now! Troopers have found us! I took care the first two, and your astromech welded the doors back up, but we can't stay here." He explained.

"We're in trouble." The boy remarked. Ignoring his comment, the group plus the astromech hurried into the back of the house as quickly made their way up onto the roof, just as the inside of the house was blown to pieces by the Stormtroopers down in the street below. The group hid behind the structure on the roof, as an AT-DP walker passed by the building.

"If they know about this hideout, they'll know about our others." The boy observed.

"There's no more hiding, we need a ship. Maybe we can try one of the local Imperial airfields." The female Twi'lek suggested, as the Mandalorian brought up a hologram of the city area.

"Not an option. If they follow protocol ,every TIE fighter and shuttle in every airfield will be completely locked down. On top of that, it'll be next to impossible just to get outside the Capital." Maral countered.

"He's right. The Empire's looking everywhere for us." The Lasat agreed.

"Not everywhere." The man wearing the stolen Trooper armour countered, indicating the main Imperial Complex building.

"The Imperial Complex, are you crazy?!" the Twi'lek exclaimed.

"Does anyone ever say 'Yes' to that question?" the man replied.

"Hm, he's right. Deploying troops to block every city exit has spread the garrison thin. It sounds crazy, but the area with the least troops 'll be…here, near the factories." The Mandalorian agreed, switching the hologram to a view of the Industrial Sector. "There are landing platforms outside these hangars. They're our best chance if we're gonna find a shuttle."

"We've already got two people dressed for the part." The man wearing the armour remarked, Maral nodding in agreement.

* * *

A short while later, the plan to steal a shuttle was in motion, as Maral, the man wearing the stolen Stormtrooper Commander armour (now known as Kanan Jarrus) and the young boy (called Ezra Bridger) approached one of the Imperial Complex's hangar entrances. Kanan, dressed as a commander, led the way, with Ezra following behind him, now dressed as an Imperial Cadet, and pushing a repulsorlift cart carrying two crates, which secretly contained Maketh and the other rebels. Maral brought up the rear, as the plan was for Kana to get them past the guard outside, though he had no idea how the man planned to accomplish this. As they approached the guard, two Imperial Troop Transports exited the hangar, likely heading out to deliver additional troops to some of the city exits.

"What's this?" the guard asked, waving his rifle in the direction of the crates.

"Power cells in need of recharging for the rebel pursuit." Kanan replied, nodding for Ezra to continue on. The guard grabbed Ezra's shoulder, halting his progress.

"Hold it right there, cadet." The guard ordered, letting go of the boy's shoulder. "We have to check inside."

"I got this." Ezra confidently announced, moving in front of the guard, before waving his hand in front of the guard's face. "No, you don't have to check inside."

" _What does that idiot think he's doing?!"_ Maral silently cursed. Clearly, Ezra was a little too cocky for the situation. Apparently the guard thought so, too, grabbing Ezra's shoulder again, shoving him back.

"Did you just try to give _me_ an order, cadet?!" the guard replied, before Kana put an arm over his shoulder, moving between the guard and Ezra.

"No, he just said," Kanan replied, before waving his in the guard's face, albeit in a slightly different motion. "You don't have to check inside."

Amazingly, whatever he did worked as the guard responded by saying, in a very monotone voice, "I don't have to check inside."

"Well then, as you wish, Trooper." Kanan replied, briefly saluting the guard with his left hand. "Cadet, let's move. Hurry it up!" he ordered, as the small group walked past the guard, who turned his back to them as if they'd never been there in the first place.

"I wish that worked for me." Ezra remarked, looking at Kanan.

"I wish it worked _on_ you." Kanan replied.

They continued further inside, eventually locating the entrance to a storage room, where they would drop their disguises, and head for the landing platform. As they arrived, a passing Stormtrooper saluted Kanan, thinking he was one of his superior officers, which Kanan returned, before opening the door, allowing Ezra to pull the crates inside. Once inside, the first crate opened, revealing the Twi'lek, Mandalorian, and Maketh. In contrast to their quite exit, the Lasat burst out of his crate with a shout, panting as if he was out of breath.

"Zeb, will you be quiet?" the Twi'lek asked firmly.

"What? I need to breathe! Have you smelled me?!" the Lasat, known as Zeb, replied, to which the Twi'lek gave a decidedly deadpan look. Meanwhile, the Mandalorian girl quickly checked outside the room, before closing the door back up.

"Huh, don't think it matters if you're noisy. There's nobody around. This was a good plan." She remarked.

"Course it was a good plan. We came up with it." Kanan replied, taking off his helmet as Ezra came up behind him.

"This way." Ezra explained, indicating the exit on the other side of the storage room. Before following him, Kanan divested himself of his stolen armour, while Maral swapped his current armour for a set of Scout Trooper armour that was available. He preferred long-range shooting, for which the helmet's enhanced macrobinocular viewplates were ideally suited. Plus, it would help distinguish him from his former comrades, as the armour was less common, especially on Lothal. It also had the added bonus of being much more comfortable and easier to move around in. At the same time, the astromech, still stuck in one of the crates, began protesting rather loudly, creating a loud metallic banging noise as he thrashed around.

"Somebody get Chopper!" the Twi'lek ordered (obviously referring to the astromech), in a very frustrated tone.

Exiting the storage room, the group continued their way forward, until they heard the voices of some approaching Troopers. Zeb moved up in front, just as two Troopers rounded the corner, clearly having not noticed the group yet.

"You think we'll find 'em this time?" One of the Troopers asked the other.

"We'd better." the other replied, before they both walked right into Zeb.

"Found me!" Zeb announced, before slamming their helmets together, causing the Troopers to crumple to the floor, clearly knocked out. The group rushed past, leaving the two unfortunate men lying on the floor. At the end of the corridor, Chopper unlocked the door, revealing the hangar and landing platform. Outside were four TIE fighters, about as many AT-DP walkers, and a _Sentinel_ -class shuttle sitting on the landing platform itself. As they headed towards the shuttle, Maral passed his handheld comlink to Maketh, then split off and headed for one of the parked TIEs.

"What are you doing?" the Twi'lek asked. Maral looked over his shoulder, still heading towards the starfighter.

"Never hurts to have an escort, right?" he replied, to which the Twi'lek nodded. Satisfied that the others now understood what he was doing, Maral climbed the boarding ladder and dropped down into the TIE's cockpit. Securing his rifle on the floor, Maral removed his new helmet, revealing his short, raven hair, which fell slightly longer in the front, light blue eyes, as well as a relatively pale complexion. He quickly ran through the fighter's start-up procedure, which never took very long, due to the cockpit's straightforward design and layout. Although he'd not been trained as a pilot, the TIE's controls were incredibly intuitive and simple to use, greatly helping the situation. With fighter now powered up, Maral gently lifted the craft off the ground, manoeuvring it over the walkers, before coming to halt just past the shuttle and swinging around to face back into the hangar, allowing him to provide covering fire with the TIE's cannons. He could see the rebels were grabbing a half dozen shield generators that were lying around, likely hoping to ensure that the mission was worth all the effort.

Suddenly, Maral noticed a black-garbed figure appear at the hangar entrance. The figure then ignited what looked like a red-bladed lightsaber, thus confirming his identity; Darth Vader, the Emperor's most feared and powerful enforcer. As Vader calmly advanced forward, about a dozen Stormtroopers flooded into the hangar, before splitting off to cover the group from both sides. Maral could see both Kana and Ezra activating blue-bladed lightsabers in response to Vader. Now Maral realised how Kana had gotten them past the outside guard; Kana was a Jedi! And evidently, Ezra was as well. Kana turned to call out to the Twi'lek, who was boarding the shuttle along with Maketh and Chopper, before Vader swung his lightsaber forward, forcing Kanan to quickly turn back around to parry the strike. Despite only using one arm, Vader was seemingly holding Kana at bay, even though the Jedi held his saber with both hands. At the same time, the Troopers on both side of the hangar opened fire on the rest of the group. As Zeb and the Mandalorian turned to face the group on the left, Maral pivoted the TIE around to the right and opened fire. The fighter's twin laser cannons screamed into life, firing powerful green blaster bolts at the six Troopers, who frantically scattered to avoid getting hit.

Not long after that, a sudden explosion forced Maral to glance back over to the left, just in time to see Kanan and Ezra hurl Vader back, right underneath a pair of AT-DPs which collapsed in a burning heap on top of him. At first, it seemed that Vader must have perished, but then the two walkers floated upwards, with Vader, apparently unhurt, standing underneath them, before the walkers dropped to the ground behind him. A few seconds later, the rest of the group quickly boarded the shuttle, which proceeded to quickly lift off and fly away. Maral swung the TIE around, pulling away from the hangar as well, soon drawing level with the larger craft thanks to the fighter's superior speed.

* * *

The sky was still dark, as the shuttle and TIE fighter glided through the Lothalian sky, passing over some of the enormous flatlands which stretched across the planet's surface. Maral had long since put the fighter on autopilot, directing it to keep pace with shuttle, allowing him to dismantle the fighter's locator beacon, preventing the Imperials from tracking the craft. Maketh had just called him a few moments ago, letting him know that Kanan and the Twi'lek, Hera Syndulla, were in the process of negotiating with a smuggler they knew, in order to get help slipping past the Imperial blockade in place around Lothal. Just then, his helmet's comlink crackled into life.

" _Maral, are you there?"_ Maketh asked, her voice slightly distorted by the device.

"I'm here, Minister. What's the situation?" he asked.

" _Maral, please, call me by my actual name. We both know I'm not exactly a minister anymore."_ Maketh replied, at which Maral chuckled a bit to himself. She'd already told him the same thing before, but it was hard to break his usual practice.

"Of course, Maketh. So, what's the news?" he asked.

" _Miss Syndulla just informed everyone that the smuggler they know has agreed to help us. He isn't on Lothal at present, but assures us that his droid will be able to provide what we need. Just follow our course."_

"Roger that." Maral replied.

* * *

The next morning, the shuttle and its lone escort arrived at what appeared to a small farming outpost, right near a massive slope, leading down to an enormous flat plain. The two craft touched down just outside the outpost's perimeter wall, as an RQ-series protocol droid walked out to greet them. Maketh and the rebels disembarked the shuttle via the front ramp, while Maral was forced to open the TIE fighter's hatch and then jump down, lacking the usual gantry that allowed the fighter's pilots to easily enter and exit the craft.

"You must be Lando's droid." Hera remarked.

"Yes ma'am, welcome. I have prepared everything according to Calrissian's instructions." The droid explained. "Is one of you a mechanic?"

"Oh, that must be me." Sabine, the Mandalorian girl, replied, to which the astromech, Chopper, let out a short series of sharp sounds in clear protest. "Definitely NOT you." Sabine retorted, as the group followed the protocol droid inside the farm.

As they did, Maral noticed Ezra staring off to his right, where the former Trooper could now see a huge column of thick black smoke in the distance. The boy seemed to hesitate for a moment, before running over to a pair of _Undicur_ -class jumpspeeders sitting next to a nearby fence, hopping on one of them, and speeding away in the direction of the smoke.

"Hey, kid-" Zeb started to say, before Kana put an arm out to stop him.

"Let him go, Zeb." He said. Kanan then walked over and hopped on the second jumpspeeder, proceeding to follow Ezra at a more leisurely pace. Maral continued to watch, as the pair soon became tiny dots on the landscape, as Maketh came over to join him.

"I believe that smoke is coming from one of the refugee settlements. Tarkintown, I think they call it." She explained.

"Who do you think ordered this? Agent Kallus?" Maral questioned, to which Maketh scoffed.

"No, of course not. Agent Kallus may be ruthless and effective, but he's not unnecessarily cruel. I imagine Vader gave the order." She replied.

"I see. You're probably right." Maral agreed.

"Believe me, I wish I wasn't." Maketh replied dryly, turning towards her former guard. "Maral, I can't thank you enough for everything you've done today. You had no obligation to come, and you could have easily reported my actions, or stopped me back at the hangar. And yet, you've given up everything you had, just to help me."

"You've read my file, Maketh. You know I had nothing to begin with, so I'm used to it by now. I only became a Stormtrooper because I had nowhere else to go. And now I have a chance to use everything I learned for something better." Maral replied, facing the woman beside him. "And I've seen all the hard work you've done. Honestly, you've already done a lot of good for Lothal, even if others might not appreciate it. I'm just glad I was able to be a part of that, even if all I did was protect you."

Maketh nodded in reply, as the pair continued to watch rising smoke off in the distance.

* * *

About an hour later, the two former Imperials spotted Kanan and Ezra approaching the farm again. The two Jedi came to a stop just inside the farm, where Sabine and the others were waiting for them.

"What happened out there?" Hera asked Kanan, as the older Jedi climbed off his jumpspeeder.

"The Empire burned Tarkintown." He replied, at which Sabine looked up from the transponder she was working on.

"Did anyone survive?" she asked.

"The population's been taken captive." Ezra explained.

"Gah, let's go bust 'em out. Where's my rifle?" Zeb growled, before Maketh moved to stop him.

"There's nothing more you can do here. Besides, going to rescue them is _exactly_ what Vader wants you to do. He'd almost certainly be waiting there himself." She protested.

"And you'd know _all_ about that, wouldn't you?" Zeb growled, the underlying implication obvious in his tone.

"I beg your pardon?!" Maketh responded with indignation. "I would NEVER resort to something like that!" Before the two could continue their fight, Kana stepped in to separate them.

"Enough, both of you." He demanded. "Tua's right, we can't help them at the moment. We have to leave."

"For the good of Lothal." Hera added.

"So, what's the pan for getting out of here?" Ezra asked.

"Lando had these old transponders lying around." Hera replied, indicating the half dozen large devices behind her and Sabine. "Sabine's gonna tune their signature codes to match this shuttle's."

"Sounds like a lousy Lando plan." Kanan joked, eliciting a few laughs from Zeb.

"No, it's Lando's gear, it was _my_ plan." Sabine explained, leaning against a nearby transponder. "With these transponders beaming out the same signal as the shuttle, we…should be able to slip by unnoticed."

"Ooh, sounds like a lousy _Sabine_ plan." Zeb remarked.

"Better than Lando's." Kanan replied.

* * *

Once all the transponders had been loaded, both the shuttle and Maral's TIE took off once more, now heading into the upper atmosphere. As they flew along, Maral could see Zeb and Sabine periodically releasing the transponders, with hovered in place behind the shuttle via onboard repulsorlifts, continuously broadcasting the shuttle's own transponder codes. As they neared the upper atmosphere, the last transponder was jettisoned.

" _Maral, it looks as though the Empire is taking the bait. Their fighter groups are splitting up and heading for the transponders. We're about to make our run for orbit, so get into position."_ Maketh explained over the comlink.

"Understood, moving now." Maral replied. Carefully, he manoeuvred his fighter into a position just above the shuttle's cockpit, and just in front of its vertical fin. Since the TIE lacked its own hyperdrive, the only way for both ships to jump away would be for the TIE get into a position such that it would be contacting the shuttle, thereby allowing the shuttle's hyperdrive to act on the TIE as well. The position Maral took meant that the fighter's cockpit area was level with the point where the front of the vertical fin of the shuttle sloped down and back towards the rear of the shuttle, before joining the main fuselage. This meant that the fighter was essentially jammed into place, eliminating the risk of the two craft separating in hyperspace, which would result in the TIE being ripped back into realspace, something its light construction would never withstand. Once Maral had the TIE in position, he cut the fighter's engine, causing it to settle back against the shuttle's fin. "TIE in position, standing by for jump."

With his part done, Maral felt the shuttle pull its nose up and accelerate forward, breaking out of the atmosphere minutes later. At the same time, Maral managed to catch a glimpse of several TIEs screaming their way, before the shuttle jumped to lightspeed, leaving the fighters in its wake.

* * *

An hour later, the shuttle and TIE combination exited hyperspace, arriving just ahead of a small fleet of ships. Maral counted six ships; five Corellian CR90 corvettes, and a single _Pelta_ -class frigate, which he guessed served as the small fleet's command vessel. As they approached, a pair of A-Wing starfighters came alongside the shuttle.

" _Phoenix Home, this is Ghost away team. Clearance code 121-815."_ Hera announced. A few seconds passed, then came a reply.

" _You clearance code checks out. Welcome home Ghost team."_

" _Acknowledged. Also, we have one TIE fighter that needs to dock as well."_ Hera explained.

" _Roger that, Ghost team. Have them head to the ventral docking hatch."_ [ **AN:** I know Phoenix Home doesn't actually have a ventral docking port, but I'm putting one in for the purposes of this story. Hope no one's too annoyed at this small inaccuracy.]

" _Affirmative. Maral, did you get that?"_

"Received, heading there now." Maral replied, powering up the TIE's engine. The fighter gently moved forward to avoid damaging the shuttle's cockpit, before Maral peeled off to the left, and headed for the docking port on the _Pelta_ -class' starboard side. The docking port extended as he approached, to provide ample clearance for the TIE's wing-mounted solar arrays. Maral slowly pulled the fighter upwards, connecting to the docking port with a dull 'thunk'. Grabbing his DLT-19 from the floor, Maral opened the fighter's hatch, climbing up the docking port's ladder before boarding the ship itself. Just then, Maketh called him, her tone frantic

" _Maral, the rebels' astromech just told us our shuttle has activated a tracking device! We're heading up to the bridge now!"_ she explained.

"On my way!" Maral replied, breaking into a sprint as soon as he heard her voice. He soon arrived on the ship's bridge, where the rest of the group were also arriving. Standing next to the main conference table were an older man and an orange-skinned Togruta female.

"Commander Sato, we need the fleet to jump out of here! Our shuttle was tracked!" Hera announced.

"Commander, I'm scanning a ship entering our sector." One of the bridge crew reported. The rebels looked apprehensively towards each other, as the unknown craft approached the fleet, its progress now shown on the holographic monitor. "We're tracking one target, no other ships have entered the system."

"Move Phoenix Squadron to intercept." Sato ordered.

"Commander, permission to head out as well?" Maral asked. He could see Sato hesitate, clearly apprehensive about sending someone he still didn't know out to help.

"Very well, you may go." He replied. Maral nodded in thanks, passing his rifle over to Maketh.

"Hold this for me, alright?" he asked, before dashing through the bridge's door. After a short run, Maral made it back to the docking hatch. Not wanting to waste any time, he ignored the ladder's steps, instead choosing to slide down the ladder, slowing his descent towards the bottom before jumping down into the TIE's cockpit, closing the hatch behind him. Having left the fighter powered up just in case, Maral disconnected from the docking port, and throttled up, flying forward just as eight A-Wings emerged from the frigate's ventral hangar. Maral quickly drew alongside, falling into formation with the other fighters.

" _Good to have you with us, friend."_ A voice said over the comlink. _"This is Phoenix Leader. What should we call you for now?"_

"Acknowledged, Phoenix Leader. You can call me 'TIE One' for now. You can get to know me better once we get out of this little mess." Maral replied.

" _Roger that, TIE One."_ Phoenix Leader replied, as the nine-ship formation continued on. Suddenly, the lead pilot's voice broke over the comlink again _"Fighter, coming in at Mark 3!"_

Looking ahead, Maral could just make out a fighter heading toward them. The cockpit area looked like that of a TIE fighter, but the wings were much shorter, angled inwards at the top and bottom. Maral recognized it as the TIE Advanced x1, a recent prototype version of the standard TIE, possessing a hyperdrive and deflector shields.

"Phoenix Leader, be advised. That TIE has deflector shields." Maral explained.

" _Acknowledged, TIE One."_ Phoenix One replied. As they closed in, Maral and the other pilots all opened fire on the lone TIE. Amazingly, the enemy pilot evaded their fire, rolling his craft left, then right, firing back as they passed. The opposing TIE's fire hit home, destroying the two lead A-Wings, as the fighter continued past the rest of them, heading for the fleet itself.

" _He's coming in too fast."_ One pilot called out.

" _We've lost Phoenix One and Two!"_ another cried out. Maral turned his TIE around, almost turning on the spot, before taking off in pursuit, as the rest of the A-Wings scattered. Surprisingly, he found himself slowly closing on the other TIE, which he could now see was slightly longer than a standard TIE, which likely meant it was heavier as well, which was allowing him to catch up. The other TIE fired several shots at the lead CR90, before turning towards the frigate. Maral immediately opened fire, despite not yet having a lock in his targeting computer. The other fighter evaded his shots with apparent ease, its course unchanged.

" _Enemy fighter's making for the command ship!"_

As they approached the frigate, the TIE Advanced fired again, blasting the area just below the ship's command tower, penetrating the ship's relatively weak shields and causing reasonable damage. Frustrated, Maral fired again and again, forcing the other TIE to break away to the left, with Maral following. Maral could tell that the other TIE's increased weight had also hampered its agility, but the pilot manoeuvred the fighter with such skill that this deficiency seemed non-existent. Just then, two of the surviving A-Wings joined Maral, both firing at the other TIE as they passed one of the corvettes on its port side. In an amazingly display, the enemy TIE's pilot spun the fighter through 180 degrees, facing towards them while continuing in the same direction as before. Maral barely had time to react, before the other TIE fired again, destroying first one, then both of the A-Wings with ease. Maral himself barely managed to avoid disaster, sustaining one hit to his starboard solar array, on the upper edge. Luckily, the damage seemed light, the shot having only been a glancing blow. But Maral knew that any closer and he'd be joining the fallen A-Wing pilots, although his armour would only protect him for a precious few moments. The enemy fighter ignored him, screaming back towards the command ship. Maral scrambled to turn and follow him, as the other TIE blasted the frigate again, this time causing significant damage to the ship's dorsal area. As the fighter turned away to make another pas, Maral noticed that the larger ship's shields had been taken out of commission by that last attack. As the two TIEs cleared the frigate, Maral could see the _Ghost_ now moving to engage as well. Behind them, multiple explosions rocked the frigate, showing the extent of the damage it had sustained.

" _Phoenix Home to Ghost! We can't withstand another attack from that fighter!"_ Commander Sato shouted. By this time, the TIE Advanced had circled back around, and was now approaching the frigate from the stern. Both Maral and the _Ghost_ 's crew opened fire, but the single fighter somehow continued to avoid being hit, not deviating from its course. And then, unexpectedly, the enemy TIE broke off its attack, instead flying over the top of the frigate without firing, with Maral's TIE and the Ghost still on his tail. _"Captain Syndulla, whatever you're doing, keep it up. The fleet CAN recover."_

" _No! Commander, you need to get the fleet out of here, now."_ Kanan protested.

" _I will NOT abandon our command ship!"_ Sato retorted. Meanwhile, the enemy TIE had managed to drop in behind the _Ghost_ and two of the three remaining A-Wings, one of which was quickly blasted to pieces. Maral had also managed to stay behind the other TIE, but had yet to score any hits.

" _You don't have a choice, sir! Without a hyperdrive, you must abandon ship!"_ Hera replied. Just then, Maral saw three _Imperial I_ -class Star Destroyers drop out of hyperspace well ahead of them.

" _It's now or never Commander!"_ Kanan advised.

" _I regretfully agree. All hands, abandon ship!"_ Sato ordered. _"You'll have to keep that fighter occupied."_

" _Don't worry, sir. We…seem to have his attention."_ Hera replied, as the _Ghost_ continued to head towards the Star Destroyers ahead of them.

" _Ghost crew, escape pods are secured. Fleet, commence hyperspace jump."_ Sato reported.

" _Copy that, Commander. We'll meet you at Save Haven."_ Hera replied. _"Maral, move your fighter underneath us, so we can clamp onto you."_

"Copy that." Maral replied, accelerating past the other TIE, before ducking under the _Ghost_ 's stern. Slowing down as he reached the ship's midsection, Maral felt a sharp pull upward, and then a dull thud, as the freighter's magnetic clamp locked his fighter in place.

" _Suddenly there's a lot to do back here!"_ Zeb shouted.

" _Sorry to spoil your fun Zeb, but I'm ordering Chopper to divert all power to the hyperdrive._ Including _cannons!"_ Hera replied.

" _Hera, what are you doing?!"_ Sabine exclaimed.

" _I think I know."_ Ezra replied. With his limited view forward, Maral could see that Hera was aiming the _Ghost_ at the gap between to two rearmost Star Destroyers, and the frequent impacts told him the other TIE was following close behind them. He then realised what the plan was.

The other TIE had not attempted to destroy the _Ghost_ , but instead had forced the ship towards the Star Destroyers, which were more than likely preparing to capture the ship with their tractor beams. If the _Ghost_ could jump to lightspeed at the right moment, the tractor beams wouldn't be able to lock on to the ship, and would instead capture the fighter behind it. Just as Maral suspected, as they came between the two massive vessels, the _Ghost_ blasted into the safety of hyperspace, leaving the Imperials far behind in seconds, as Maral let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

After a short trip through hyperspace, the _Ghost_ dropped back into realspace to re-join the fleet, docking with the new, temporary command ship, the _Liberator_ , with Maral detaching from the ship and docking on the opposite site of the corvette. Once onboard, the fleet jumped away again, heading for another star system where they could rest and assess their losses. Phoenix Squadron had been all but wiped out, with just a single A-Wing fighter left out of eight. For that reason, the choice was made to retain Maral's stolen TIE fighter for the foreseeable future, as well as retrieving the TIE that the Ghost crew had stolen a few months earlier. As there were no other pilots presently available, Maketh offered to pilot the second TIE, explaining that she had at least some experience piloting it.

"Commander Sato, before I forget," Maketh said, pulling out the datacard she'd kept hidden the entire time, offering it to Sato. "The information I promised you."

"Thank you, Minister Tua. After today, we need all the help we can get." Sato replied, shaking Maketh's hand in gratitude.

"Commander, I have something as well." Maral added. "All Imperial TIE fighters have a mechanism that allows for the solar arrays on both sides to be detached from the main fuselage, in order to better facilitate maintenance. This datacard contains the information that will allow you to trigger this mechanism remotely, disabling any TIEs within your broadcast range. Although, I can't guarantee how long it will be before the codes are changed." He explained, handing Sato another datacard.

"Even if we are only able to use this once, it will be a great help. Thank you." Sato replied, before heading back up to the corvette's bridge.

"So, what happens now?" Maral asked.

"I spoke with Commander Sato earlier, and suggested that you and Minister Tua join our little group. Everyone else agreed, but it's up to you to decide." Hera explained. Maral and Maketh looked toward each other, and realised they needed no further persuasion.

"We're in." Maral replied.

"Quite." Maketh added. "Now, if no one minds, I think I could use some rest."

"Of course, you certainly deserve it after a day like today." Hera replied. "There's a spare room on the _Ghost_ ; port side, first from the common room. You and Maral can share, if that's okay with you."

"I believe we can make it work." Maketh replied, flashing Maral a smile. "Well then, shall we?"

"After you." Maral replied, as the pair headed off. It didn't take them long to find the room in question, as Maketh and already been on the small freighter once before, and she had a pretty good memory. The room itself was fairly nondescript; a pair of bunks against the far wall, with a small table and two seats next to the right-hand wall. Maral quickly took the opportunity to sit down on the closest seat, setting his rifle against the wall before removing his helmet. He twisted his around a bit, working out the kinks in his neck. Meanwhile, he noticed Maketh leaning back against the wall opposite him. Her hat now rested on a small box-shaped protrusion that jutted out from the wall to her left, causing Maral to realise he'd never actually seen her without it on. Her light blonde hair was pulled into a loose bun, a few stray strands now hanging down over her forehead. That, coupled with her tired-looking eyes that appeared to be struggling to hold back a few tears, conveyed the impression of a woman who'd been through a lot of physical and emotional stress, which was hardly surprising.

"Maketh, are you alright?" Maral ventured, not wanting to push too far, given the former minister's clearly fragile state.

"I-I'm fine, Maral. I-I just…" Maketh started, her voice breaking, as she struggled to hold back what felt like a tidal wave of emotions. Sensing something was about to happen, Maral quickly stood up, pulling Maketh into a hug, just as she broke into sobs, tears streaming down her face as she wrapped her arms around him as well.

"It's okay, Maketh. You're safe now." Maral assured her, gently rubbing the crying woman's back, as she sobbed into his chest armour. He'd half expected something like this to happen. After the thinly-veiled threats from Tarkin, her near-death at the hands of a rigged shuttle, and on top of all of that another, far more frightening encounter with Vader, Maral was surprised she'd managed to keep herself together this long. After a minute or so, the sobbing died down. Maketh pulled back slightly, revealing her now slightly reddened eyes, as well as he tear-streaked face. "Better?" he asked, to which Maketh nodded.

"Y-Yes, thank you." She replied, although her arms remained in place.

"Is…there something else?" Maral asked, slightly perplexed by her behaviour. Maketh had certainly never shown herself to be the clingy type, at least as far as he knew.

"Vin…" Maketh softly replied, which caught the former Trooper completely off guard. She'd definitely NEVER called him by his first name before. As he was trying to process this, Maketh took one step forward, reached up and pulled his head down, bringing their lips together in a gentle kiss. Maral's eyes widened momentarily, then closed again, as he pulled Maketh tightly against him, as they both relaxed into the kiss. There was no fiery passion, just tender love that they'd both kept hidden for far too long. Eventually, the ever-present need to breath forced them to separate, both panting slightly to regain their lost breath.

"That was…unexpected. Not that I'm complaining." Maral gasped, still pleasantly surprised by what had just happened. "So…does this mean what I think it does?" he asked, eliciting a light chuckle from Maketh.

"Of course. It means I love you, you fool. I just never worked out what these feelings were until now." Maketh replied, a warm smile on her face. "Never really got a chance, I suppose. And I assume that you feel the same?"

"I love you too, Maketh Tua." Maral replied, hugging her close again, before releasing her from his arms.

"As much as I'd love to continue," Maketh began, pausing as she let out a yawn. "I really do need some rest right now."

"You deserve it, after everything you've been through." Maral replied. "I'll be in the common area if you need me." He explained while heading for the door, grabbing his helmet and rifle on the way out, letting the door slide shut behind him. Entering the _Ghost_ 's surprisingly spacious common area, Maral seated himself at the small table, on the curved corner seat. Setting his helmet down beside him, he hefted the DLT-19 up onto the small table, which turned out to be _just_ large enough for the lengthy weapon to sit comfortably on. He then proceeded to carefully disassemble the weapon, which as always was a rather time-consuming process. Thankfully, he'd remembered to grab all of the tools required to do so back on Lothal. Just as he was removing the rifle's internal tibanna gas cartridge, a relatively delicate step, given the gas' infamous flammability, Sabine entered the room, sitting down on one of the stools opposite him.

"Doing some weapon maintenance, I see." She observed, setting her own helmet on the end of the curved seat across from Maral.

"Yeah, thought it'd be a good idea, since this thing did get thrown around a bit today." Maral replied, examining the exterior of the barrel for any problems.

"Nice to meet someone else who appreciates keeping a weapon in good condition." Sabine replied. "Until you came along, I had to maintain everyone's weapons, on top of mine. Plus, I've never gotten an opportunity to see a DLT-19 up close before. Only ever had the pleasure of getting shot at by it."

"Well, most Stormtroopers tend to avoid it, 'cause it takes a lot of time to assemble. Plus, it's not exactly ideal for close quarter fighting. But I prefer fighting from a distance, so it suits me just fine." Maral explained. "Where are the others?"

"Still back on the _Liberator_. I think they're going over the information you and Minister Tua gave us." Sabine replied. "Speaking of which, how's she doing?"

"Pretty good, all things considered. She did have a small breakdown earlier, but she's okay now. Said she was going to have a rest, so I thought I'd give her some peace and quiet." Maral replied.

"Hmm, I think you did more than that." Sabine retorted, smirking back at him.

"What makes you think that?" Maral asked, wondering what her game was.

"Oh please, I've been around Kanan and Hera long enough to notice these things." Sabine replied, leaning forward slightly. "You love her, don't you?"

"I…fine, you caught me. Not really much point hiding it anyway." Maral admitted. He could tell from Sabine's tone general demeanour that she didn't mean anything bad by it, and she didn't seem like the insensitive type. "What gave it away?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just that not many people I know would've done everything you did just to help a friend. Plus, I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but the way the two of you play off each other definitely says you both see the other as more than just a friend. Either way, I think you two look good together."

"Thanks. Right now, we don't have much else." The two of them continued to chat amicably for the next hour or so, even after Maral had finished reassembling his rifle. Eventually, they both decided to retire for the night, with Maral entering his shared room with Maketh as quietly as he could. He carefully removed the armour pieces and gloves, leaving the underlying body glove on before climbing onto the top bunk, as the other was already occupied by a sleeping Maketh. Settling himself into the rather comfortable bunk, Maral gratefully closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep shortly after.

* * *

 **AN #3:** And that concludes Chapter 1 of _Imperial Rebels_. Hope you all enjoyed it. Feel free to send your reviews, any criticisms and advice are welcome, but please keep your complaints polite an reasonable. Flamers will be ignored.

Anzac-A1, out.


	2. Chapter 2: The Lost Commanders

**AN:** Hey everyone, sorry this took so long to come out! It's partially because I've been busy, been writing a new chapter for _Code Geass: A New Signature – Britannian Military Route_ , currently my most popular story in terms of monthly views and overall reviews (It's currently 3rd in terms of total views, but it is gaining roughly 5 times as many views per month as the story in 1st, so it will surpass that if you guys continue to enjoy so much. I hope I can keep you all satisfied and loyal readers.). Anyway, the new chapter's here, so enjoy!

 **UPDATE: I've just added a poll to my profile page regarding this story. The question I'm asking is "How should Maketh Tua's combat abilities be enhanced?". Everyone, please head over there and give me your opinions (you can vote for up to 2 choices). If you don't feel drawn to any of the options I've given, feel free to PM me with your suggestions (but be sure to label the message so I don't get confused).**

* * *

 _Chapter 2, Part 1: The Lost Commanders_

A few days later, Maral, Maketh and the Ghost crew were back onboard one of Phoenix Squadrons remaining ships, a CR90 corvette, accompanied by another corvette as well as four A-Wing starfighters. The _Ghost_ and their two captured TIE fighters (with one now cleaned of Sabine's artwork, while both fighters had been painted a similar blue to that of Maketh's clothing) were currently docked with their corvette, as the small fleet cruised through empty interstellar space. Since the loss of _Phoenix Home_ , the group had constantly been on the move, unable to effectively resist the Empire with their current strength. At present, Maral, Maketh, along with Ahsoka (the female Togruta, who Maral now knew to be a former Jedi Padawan), Hera, Sabine and Chopper were in the CR90's bridge, with Commander Sato also present via hologram. They were in the process of discussing their options, as Kanan and Ezra joined them.

" _The destruction of our command ship has severely limited our ability to fight the Empire in this sector."_ Sato explained, as Ezra came around behind his image.

"So maybe we don't fight." He suggested, earning him a glare from Sato. "Uh…Commander Sato, sir. When things got tough for me on Lothal, I'd go find some place to hide."

" _You are never shy with your opinions, Ezra Bridger. But, establishing a base is a good idea."_ Sato agreed.

"Problem is, none of the bases we know of have the tactical advantage we need to protect what's left of our fleet." Hera replied.

"Or, aid the nearby systems suffering from Imperial oppression." Kanan added.

"We can't help others if we can't help ourselves, Kanan." Hera countered.

"I wish Maketh and I could help, but we don't know of any bases that the Empire isn't already aware of." Maral added. He was still wearing his stolen Scout Trooper armour, albeit with the front of the helmet in the raised, open position.

"Yes, I'm sorry we can't be of any help." Maketh said.

" _Do not worry, Minister Tua. The two of you have already helped us greatly."_ Sato assured them.

"If only we had more allies…" Hera mused.

"I know someone…who might be able to help us. A great military commander, with a vast knowledge of the Outer Rim." Ahsoka explained, moving from her spot by the wall to stand next to the briefing table. "He could assist us in finding a base. And his experienced leadership would make him a powerful ally."

" _How do we recruit this…leader?"_ Sato asked.

"That's the problem. I lost track of him a long time ago, and all my transmissions have gone unanswered." Ahsoka confessed.

"We can find him, let us try. "Ezra offered.

"Well, there's one option I've not yet attempted." Ahsoka replied.

* * *

Shortly after, it was decided that Kanan, Ezra, Sabine, Hera, Zeb, Chopper and Maral would make the trip, while Maketh had elected to stay behind. The group quickly boarded the _Ghost_ , getting themselves set up in the cockpit, with Zeb moving to the back of the ship, as the cockpit wasn't roomy enough for everyone. Ahsoka entered just behind them, carrying the head from an old T-series tactical droid before handing it to Sabine, as Maketh followed her inside.

"Is that…the head of an old tactical droid?" Kanan asked. His expression clearly showed he'd been expecting something…better than this.

"These droids were great at finding things, calculating. Huh, found my master and I a few times when we didn't want to be found." Ahsoka replied, as Sabine examined the droid head.

"How in all the galaxy is that droid gonna find your friend?" Ezra jokingly asked. Chopper made a few noises of indignation, using his small manipulator arms to emphasise this.

"Well, I heard he was last seen in the Seelos system. You can start there." Ahsoka replied, before turning to leave.

"You're not coming with us?" Ezra asked.

"I have something else to attend to."

"The Sith lord." Kanan guessed.

"There're questions…questions that need answering." Ahsoka replied.

"I wish we could go with you." Ezra offered.

"You have your own mission Ezra." Ahsoka replied. "And Kanan, when you find my friend, you _must_ trust him."

"If he's all the things you say, we can't afford not to." Kanan responded.

"Trust him." Ahsoka repeated, before the doors closed between them.

"What was that about?" Ezra wondered, looking at Kanan, who simply shrugged in response.

"I have no idea." He replied. At the same time, Maketh walked over to Maral, who was still standing beside Kanan.

"Stay safe." She said, placing a hand on his chest armour.

"Don't I always?" Maral countered, holding her by the waist. Maketh smiled, then pressed their lips together briefly, before pulling away and leaving the cockpit herself.

"Whoa, did we miss something? Since when are you two a thing?" Ezra asked, clearly not believing what he'd just seen.

"Since a few days ago, actually." Maral replied, seating himself on the floor, since all the seats were already taken. "Turns out we've both felt the same way for a while, but the Empire doesn't exactly condone that sort of thing." With everyone who wasn't going with them now off the ship, Hera released the _Ghost_ from the docking port and pulled them clear of the other ship. Once they were well clear of the rest of the small fleet, she engaged the hyperdrive, and the freighter jumped into hyperspace, headed for the Seelos system.

* * *

By the time they arrived in orbit above the planet Seelos, everyone except for Hera and Chopper had already moved down to the cargo bay, ready to disembark once they reached the surface. However, almost immediately they could hear Hera yelling up in the cockpit, and she sounded pretty angry. Kanan elected to go and find out what the problem was, while the others waited where they were.

"So, any idea what that's all about?" Maral asked, assuming the rest of the crew might know was happening, seeing as they knew Hera better than he did.

"My guess? Chopper only did the 'important' repairs. And by important, I mean 'easiest to fix'. It wouldn't be the first time." Sabine suggested.

"Sounds reasonable. Guess we'll find out soon." Maral commented. Shortly after, Kanan returned from the cockpit.

"So, what's the word?" Sabine asked.

"Turns out Chopper didn't completely fix the hyperdrive, so we'll be taking the _Phantom_ while Hera stays up here to fix everything." Kanan explained.

"Looks like you were right." Maral remarked to Sabine, who grinned back as Kanan led the way up the ladder which led to the modified VCX-series auxiliary starfighter, known as the _Phantom_ , which was docked between the _Ghost_ 's main engines. Once inside the small craft, Kanan got behind the controls, while Maral and the others seated themselves in the four fold-down seats behind him. Kanan quickly undocked from the _Ghost_ , before extending the _Phantom_ 's stubby wings and descending towards the planet long, the small ship was cruising along barely a hundred metres above the planet's salt crust surface.

"Well, let's fire this thing up." Sabine announced, plugging the tactical droid's head into the main console. The droid head immediately began emitting a series of low beeps, clearly it was doing something. "I think it's scanning for a signal of some kind."

"Good luck. You could really get lost out here." Ezra remarked.

"Maybe that was the idea. What if this great commander we're looking for doesn't want to be found?" Zeb added. Suddenly, the tactical droid began speaking.

" _7-5-6-7, 7-5-6-7, 7-5-6-7…"_

"It's homing in on something." Sabine realised. Kanan immediately started changing course, as the droid continued repeating the same four digits. As they flew along, Maral thought he could see something the distance. Getting up from his seat, he leant over Kanan's shoulder and closed his helmet, engaging its high-powered macrobinoculars.

"I can see something up ahead. An old walker, distance approximately 4,200 metres." He announced, pointing to where he could see the object in question. As they flew closer, the others could see that he was right. The walker was revealed to be an old AT-TE walker, a type that had seen widespread service during the Clone Wars, but had since been retired. Upon closer inspection, the walker appeared to have been heavily modified, apparently into some kind of mobile dwelling.

"Whoa." Ezra gasped, as they cruised slowly by, now just metres away.

"Now _that_ is a work of art." Sabine added, referring to the array of colours that adorned the walker's new external decks and walkways.

"Looks like an old Republic tank…used during the Clone wars." Kanan observed, his voice hard. He directed the _Phantom_ around behind the walker, setting it down facing the walker's rear. Once down, the group disembarked the small shuttle.

"Ezra, be on guard." Kanan advised, clearly wary about who they might be about to meet. As they approached the back of the walker, the only sound was a light metallic clinking, coming from a handful of wind chimes hanging off the vehicle. Then, the door on the walker's rear slid open, and three old men walked out. The first wore rather old white and blue armour and a pair of blaster pistols holstered on his hips, with a white beard. The second man wore similar armour to the first, albeit without the pauldrons. The third wore virtually no armour at all except on his legs, paired with a very faded tank top. Interestingly, Maral noted that all three men looked remarkably similar to each other, like they were triplets. However, more concerning was the fact that the last two men were wielding old, but powerful DC-15A blaster rifles.

"Pfft, it's just a bunch of old geezers." Zeb said, clearly not impressed by what they'd found thus far.

" _Well-armed_ old geezers." Sabine pointed out.

"What do you want?" the first man asked.

"We're looking for someone." Kanan replied.

"Well that's too bad," the man replied, leaning on the railing in front of him, as he looked down on the group. "Because there's nobody out here."

"Hey, uh, does the number 7-5-6-7 mean anything to you?" Ezra asked. As soon as he said those four digits, the man immediately straightened up, while the two behind him stepped forward, hefting their rifles.

"What did you just say?" the man demanded.

"Uh, I-I said 7-5-6-7?" replied, not sure why the man was getting worked up over a number.

"I haven't heard those digits in…well that's my birth number." The man replied.

"Birth number?"

"They're clones!" Kanan exclaimed, igniting his lightsaber and stepping in front of Ezra.

"Kanan wait, stop!" Ezra urged, trying to hold his master back.

"Jedi! They've come for revenge!" the clone on the left exclaimed, before firing off two shots, which Kanan easily deflected.

"Drop the blaster, old man!" Zeb ordered, as Sabine, Maral and himself aimed their weapons in reply.

"Don't try it, boyo! I'll gun ya down!" the clone on the right replied, before he was stopped by the clone in the middle.

"Stand down troopers, now!" the clone ordered him, before turning to the other clone beside him. "That's an order, soldier!"

"But he's a Jedi! A Jedi!" the other clone protested.

"I know, I know! But they weren't the ones that betrayed us. Remember…Wolffe, remember?" the clone told him, which seemed to calm the other man down.

"Kanan, Ahsoka said to trust them." Ezra reminded him.

"Eh sorry about the um, weapons malfunction. Heh, my friend here's just a little…defensive. See, we haven't seen a Jedi since, uh," The clone explained, at which Kanan raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's been a while."

"Well my name's Ezra, this is Kanan." Ezra explained, as Kanan deactivated his blade. "That's Sabine, Zeb, and Maral. It's nice to meet you, 7-5-6-7."

"Actually, my name is Rex. Captain, 501st Clone Battalion. Meet Commanders Gregor, and Wolffe." The man now known as Rex replied, indicating the clones to his left and right respectively.

"We were sent by Ahsoka Tano."

"Ahsoka Tano. I fought by her side from the Battle of Christophsis to the Siege of Mandalore. And a friend of hers is a friend of mine."

* * *

The group followed Rex through the walker's rear door and into the surprisingly spacious rear compartment, Wolffe and Gregor having already gone in first. Given the tank had originally been designed for a crew consisting entirely of Human clones, Zeb was forced duck his head slightly to avoid hitting it as he entered.

"Hey, you're a big one, aren't ya?" Gregor joked, as the Lasat walked past him.

"Bigger than you." Zeb retorted. As Ezra followed him in, his attention was grabbed by a small collection of Phase II Clone Trooper helmets sitting on a shelf next to the entranceway.

"Woah!" he exclaimed, picking up one helmet that stood out from the others by virtue of some distinctive blue markings.

"Hey ,hey. Easy with those, son." Rex warned, as he took a seat towards the front of the compartment.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I might move the dust." Ezra replied sarcastically, dropping said helmet back where he found it, as Sabine, Maral and Kanan followed him in. Sabine elected to remove her helmet, while Maral chose to flip the open the front of his scout helmet up instead.

"How is Commander Tano?" Rex asked.

"Uh, well…in need of help. We all are." Ezra replied. "Look, we're trying to fight the Empire, but we're outnumbered, overmatched, and taking a beating. We could use your help" He explained.

"Well, I'm not sure I'm much help to anyone these days." Rex replied, leaning back in his seat and putting his arms behind his head. "Didn't you hear? The Emperor said the Clone Army has outserved its purpose and…retired us. Now we spend our days just telling stories and slinging for joopas."

"Agh, this was a wasted trip. You heard the clone, he's not interested." Kanan growled, before turning and leaving the room.

"Wait, you don't like the Empire, do you?" Ezra asked.

"Well, the Empire certainly isn't the Republic, but ya can't do anything about that." Rex replied.

"You could fight."

"Sorry son, my days as a soldier are over."

"Well, okay, okay. Then maybe there's one thing you can help us with." Ezra offered. "We need a base. Ahsoka said you knew about all sorts of secret locations in the Outer Rim." Rex appeared to hesitate, looking to Gregor and Wolffe. Gregor offered a slight nod, while Wolffe shook his head.

"Well, my memory isn't what it once was, but uh, there are a few spots I never bothered to report to the Empire. Look, why don't you just wait outside and I'll put together a list of co-ordinates." Rex replied, before ushering the rest of the group towards the door.

* * *

 **AN #2: I'm skipping past the scene with them catching Big Bongo, since it's not strictly necessary, and Maral's presence doesn't have any real impact. Our story starts back up after Rex talks to Sabine and Ezra.**

A few hours later, Maral found himself leaning against one of the railings up towards the front of the AT-TE, as the sun began to set over Seelos. He wasn't why, but something in the back of his mind seemed to feel that some alone time would be good. After watching the sunset for a few minutes the front of his helmet in the 'open' position, Maral heard some footsteps approaching him. Turning around, the person was revealed to be Rex, who had apparently finished his chat with Ezra. Maral had been off to one side when it started, and had elected to leave shortly after.

"So tell me, how does a Stormtrooper end up fighting against the Empire?" Rex asked.

"Heh, what gave me away?" Maral asked.

"Well for one, you seem way too content to just stand back and let everyone else do the talking. Also, you wear that armour comfortably, like you've worn it for years. Not to mention the fact that wearing armour like that if you're not a Stormtrooper is illegal." Rex explained, folding his arms over his chest. "So, why are you here?"

"It's funny, a few days ago I was asking myself the same thing. I guess it's mostly because of Maketh." Maral replied.

"Who's Maketh?" Rex asked, obviously puzzled by the name.

"Maketh Tua. She used to be the Imperial Minister on Lothal, until a few days ago. She decided she had to leave, and I helped her escape. During the escape, I kept asking myself why I was doing it, over and over." Maral explained. "Then I realised…it was because I loved her. From the moment I was assigned as her bodyguard, I felt something…inside of me that pushed me to keep her safe, no matter what. It wasn't until things calmed down that I realised what that something was. I also realised that I now had a chance to use my abilities to actually do some good, for the first time in my life."

"You see, I was born on Coruscant, at the very heart of the Empire. I don't remember my parents at all, so I guess they must've died when I was still a baby. I grew up on the streets, so I had to steal just to survive. As luck would have it, one day I made the mistake of trying to steal from an Imperial officer. I didn't understand why, but instead of turning me in, he recommended me to the Imperial Academy. But even when I graduated and became a Stormtrooper, I never really believed in the Empire. I did what I was told, followed my orders, but I always felt like something was missing, that I was meant to do more And now I have a chance to do just that." Rex smiled widely upon hearing Maral's words, before walking forward and resting a hand on the former Stormtrooper's shoulder.

"It's a shame you weren't born a Clone. I would've been proud to serve beside a soldier like you. Here," Rex said, reaching down to pick up a DC-15A that was resting against the hull of the walker, before handing it to Maral, who took it with slight hesitation. "I think you deserve to have this."

"Thank you, Captain." Maral replied, giving Rex a quick salute. "And for what it's worth, I'd be honoured fight beside you anytime." Before either of them could continue, however, they heard a loud commotion coming from the rear of the walker. When they got there, it turned out to be Sabine Kanan, Ezra and Wolffe.

"The clones gave us up! They warned the Empire we're here!" an angry Sabine shouted, waving around a datapad.

"Wait, what?" Ezra exclaimed in disbelief.

"You're mistaken, we would never do that." Rex protested. Maral felt inclined to agree with the former captain. After all, Rex didn't seem like the type of person who'd do something like that.

"Oh, I found the binary transmission to the Empire. AND there are messages Ahsoka sent to Rex, and he never answered her." Sabine shot back.

"What?! I never got any messages from Commander Tano!" Rex exclaimed, snatching the datapad from Sabine so he could take a look. At the same time, Maral noticed Wolffe turn away from the rest of them, as if he wanted to hide something.

"I knew it! I told you, they can't be trusted!" Kanan stated, before he was stopped by Ezra.

"Kanan, wait." Ezra said, before addressing Rex. "Is this true?" Rex thought about for a couple of seconds, before slowly turning towards Wolffe.

"Wolffe! What did you do?" he demanded.

"I-I contacted the Empire. If they found out that we were helping Jedi, they'd wipe us out!" Wolffe explained.

"Sabine, go warn Hera. Tell her to scan for incoming ships." Kanan instructed. Sabine nodded, running over to the _Phantom_ immediately.

"I wanted to protect you guys! Protect our squad!" Wolffe exclaimed, whirling around to face Rex.

"The war is over! We are free men!" Rex shot back, grabbing Wolffe's shoulders. "We can't live under the fear of the Empire for the rest of our lives, Wolffe! That's not freedom!"

"You're right, they're not our enemy. I'm sorry." A dejected-looking Wolffe replied. Suddenly, a series of light blaster shots rang out, coming from the direction of the _Phantom_.

"Kanan!" Sabine yelled, at which point the Jedi ran up to help her, after which a small explosion caused the small ship to shake. A few seconds later, Maral and the others saw an Imperial probe droid emerge from underneath the AT-TE's belly, heading off into the distance. Kanan appeared soon after, firing in the probe's direction, but all of his shots missed, as the droid drew further and further away.

"Rex!" Ezra shouted. "You gotta make this right!"

"Here, use this." Maral added, offering the DC-15A that Rex had gifted to him earlier. Rex nodded, accepting the old rifle, before taking aim at the now distant probe droid. After a second or two, a shot rang out, and a single blue blaster bolt caught the droid dead centre, tearing all the way through the probe, which promptly exploded into flames.

"Yes!" Ezra exclaimed.

"Huh, nice shot." Sabine added.

* * *

 _Chapter 2, Part 2: Relics of the Old Republic_

The next morning, Wolffe had the old AT-TE on the move, heading away from an incoming sandstorm, and more importantly away from where they'd encountered the probe droid. Sabine was on top of the walker, checking the _Phantom_ , with Maral up there as well, keeping an eye out for any approaching ships. The former Stormtrooper had his helmet's macrobinoculars set to maximum magnification, allowing him to faintly make out anything which might enter orbit above the planet. Meanwhile, everyone else was gathered inside the walker.

"The probe hit us pretty badly. Repairs are gonna take a little while longer." Sabine radioed to Kanan.

" _We don't have much time. There's no telling when the Empire'll get here. We've got to get off the surface."_ Kanan radioed back.

"Well, the Empire's not our only problem. There's a storm coming up behind us." Sabine replied, quickly checking on the storm's progress. At the walker's current pace, the storm wasn't gaining any ground on them, but would quickly catch up if they were forced to stop or slow down.

" _If the Empire gets here before we take off, the storm'll be the last of our problems."_ Kanan replied.

"He's right about that." Maral replied. "I'm not seeing anything yet, but I'll keep my eyes open."

" _That's good, but I'll check in with Hera just to be safe."_ Kanan replied _"Spectre One to Spectre Two. Gonna be down here a while longer, give me some good news. Has the Empire showed up yet?"_

" _I'm a little busy finishing repairs on the_ Ghost _but, Chopper's been scanning. So far nothing."_ Hera replied. A few seconds later, her voice came through again. _"Star Destroyer just came out of hyperspace, gonna power down so they can't scan me. Once I finish my repairs, I'll come get you. Good luck down there."_

" _Maral, you see it?"_ Kanan asked.

"Confirmed, I can make out a _Victory I_ -class Star Destroyer entering orbit now. No escort ships." Maral replied. In his view, he could just make out the _Ghost_ , and the massive ship that was currently not for away from it. Shortly after that, four tiny specks broke away from the larger ship, and appeared to be heading towards the surface. "Scratch that, the Destroyer just launched what looks like four TIE fighters. They're headed towards the surface."

" _Copy that, good work."_ Kanan replied. _"You might as well head back inside for now."_ Closing the link, Maral quickly made his way down to the rear hatch, glancing worriedly at the storm behind them, before heading inside.

"Or they'll call. Incoming Imperial transmission. It's for you, Wolffe." Gregor noted, somewhat jokingly, as one of the monitors flashed with the unmistakable appearance of an Imperial broadcast.

"They called back? They-They-They never call back." Wolffe stated, clearly taken by surprise.

"Heh, _this_ is why I don't trust clones." Kanan said, before leaving the room.

"Just get rid of 'em, Wolffe." Ezra suggested, as he and Zeb exited as well.

"Yeah, it was my mistake. And I'll fix it." Wolffe replied, turning to face the screen, just as Agent Kallus' face appeared. Maral decided not to leave, instead opting to remain in the doorway, easily out of the ISB agent's view.

" _CC-3636, Commander…Wolffe, is it?"_ Kallus asked.

"Yep, that's…me. What can I do for you, sir?" Wolffe replied.

" _Please transmit your coordinates so I can investigate the Jedi sightings you reported."_ Kallus explained.

"What? Uh, J-Jedi? Er, no, no, th-there's no Jedi…here. My-My older cybernetic eye must be acting up again." Wolffe replied, doing the best he could to try and make his bluff believable, as Rex then entered the frame.

"Eh, sorry for wasting your time." Rex added.

" _This image was taken by one of our probe droids."_ Kallus replied, as a video of the AT-TE with the _Phantom_ set on top of it replaced his feed, zooming in on the small shuttle, before switching back to Kallus. _"It clearly shows you harbouring known Rebels. Now surrender them, or be destroyed._ "

"If…it's a fight you want, I hope you brought a better class of soldier than those… _Stormtroopers_." Rex challenged.

" _They serve the Empire well, and I have a great many of them."_ Kallus replied. At that point, Maral decided to step in. He walked over, moving Rex and Wolffe off to one side, then faced the screen, his helmet closed.

"You know, not _all_ of them serve the Empire, Agent Kallus." Maral retorted.

" _Who are you? Ownership of that armour is prohibited! Identify yourself."_ Kallus demanded, his previously calm and confident expression now one of annoyance.

"I'm hurt you don't remember me, Agent Kallus. Former Stormtrooper TK-740, Vin Maral, at your service." Maral replied, flipping his helmet open at the same time.

" _TK-740? You-You're the one who was with Minister Tua!"_ Kallus exclaimed. _"So, not only did you aid her escape, you would dare betray the Empire as well?!"_

"Yes, I would. So feel free to come down here and fight me again. It'll end the same way as before." Maral challenged, before cutting the link.

"Heh heh, I like this guy." Zeb chuckled, just before the muffled sound of heavy laser fire rocked the walker. Sabine burst in seconds later.

"They found us!" she announced.

"Guess that search pattern paid off." Ezra mused.

"Battle stations." Rex ordered, as Gregor dragged over a crate, which he opened up to reveal a small store of Clone War-era weaponry. Sabine grabbed a DC-15A, while Zeb opted for the heavier Z-6 rotary blaster cannon. As everyone rushed outside, a single TIE fighter flew overhead, strafing the walker with its twin laser cannons.

"We're sitting mynocks on this thing!" Ezra yelled, climbing up to the top of the walker.

"Think so?" Rex commented, an RPS-6 rocket launcher resting on his right shoulder. "Wolffe, evasive manoeuvres!" he ordered, using his comlink to talk to Wolffe, currently in the walker's cockpit.

" _Copy that!"_ Wolffe replied, putting the walker into a tight, left-hand turn. The rest of the group scrambled up top, Sabine leading the way, as the TIE swung round for another strafing run.

"Hurry, he's coming around for another pass!" she shouted. Sabine and Zeb jumped over the gap in the walker's midsection, positioning themselves next to the turret-mounted mass driver cannon. Maral joined them, with Kanan and Ezra placing themselves in front of the _Phantom_ , igniting their lightsabers at the same time. As the TIE closed in, Sabine, Zeb and Maral opened fire. However, as a result of being forced to duck and dodge from the fighter's own shots, theirs kept missing the mark.

"Try shortening your leads, you're wasting ammo!" Rex offered, climbing up to join them.

"You're welcome to help!" Zeb shot back, as he continued firing.

"Eh, why spoil the fun? We haven't been shot at in years!" Gregor joked, as he climbed up as well.

"Yeah, well it happens to us every day!" Sabine replied, as the TIE flew past them, coming in very low overhead.

"Why doesn't someone man the big gun?" Ezra asked.

"It's no good in this situation." Rex explained.

"Oh, kinda like you guys." Kanan remarked, leaping on top of the _Phantom_. To his credit, Rex ignored the Jedi's derisive comment.

"You want the shot?" Rex asked Gregor, tossing him the launcher.

"Love to." Gregor replied. He made to head up to the front of the walker, before Maral stopped him.

"Don't worry about it, I've got this." Maral said. Ignoring the clone's puzzled expression, Maral ran up to the front of the walker, as the TIE flew overhead again, before beginning another wide, sweeping turn. Going down on one knee, Maral lifted the DC-15A to his right shoulder, setting the rifle to full power. Aiming carefully, he tracked the TIE as it slowly turned out ahead of them. The…he fired. The rifle kicked back fiercely, a testament to its firepower. Maral watched, as the blue blaster bolt rocketed towards the fighter, before impacting close to the centre of the port solar array. The resulting damage tore the entire array off the TIE, which promptly spiraled out of control, crashing to the ground off the walker's port side.

"Whoa." Ezra gasped.

"Nice shot!" Sabine exclaimed, as Maral stood back up, turning to face everyone.

"I like this thing." He remarked, hefting the DC-15A.

"I don't want to spoil the celebration, but if that storm gets any closer it'll ground us." Kanan interrupted, indicating the huge sandstorm behind them. "Sabine, we need the _Phantom_ to fly."

"I'm on it." Sabine replied. She handed her rifle over to Gregor, then hurried over and set to work on the _Phantom_ 's repairs.

* * *

As Sabine kept working on the _Phantom_ , Kanan, Ezra, Maral and Rex remained up top with her, keeping an eye out for any additional Imperial forces. Now that he knew where they were, everyone knew Agent Kallus would already be on his way to meet them. So far, they'd seen nothing, but that just meant further tense waiting. Kanan and Maral were watching the rear and front respectively, while Ezra and Rex were next to the walker's main gun, with Ezra having decided to sit in the gunner's seat himself.

"Uh sorry, I'm-I'm in your seat." Ezra stammered, having just realised Rex was watching him play around with the mass driver cannon's controls.

"The traverse controls are…over here on the left. And the elevation's…on the right." Rex explained, moving over to crouch down on Ezra's right.

"Really?" Ezra asked, before having a proper go, moving the gun around slightly. "So, um, what was it like to fight in the Clone War?"

"Ah, I don't think the fighting ever got to Lothal. I tell ya, war was never dull." Rex replied. "The general I fought with was among the greatest of the Jedi. I trusted him with my life more times than I can count. And I tried my best to keep that trust."

"Alright, with any luck we can get out of here soon." Sabine announced.

"W-We can't just leave Rex, Wolffe and Gregor here." Ezra protested.

"Well, the Empire is here because of us. We'll deal with the consequences." Rex replied, as Zeb joined the rest of them on deck. Just then a loud, rumbling sound started to be heard.

"Wait, listen. You hear that?" Zeb asked.

"Enemy contact, .24." Wolffe said, pointing in said direction. In the distance, the distinctive silhouettes of three giant AT-AT walkers could now be seen. And all three were headed right towards them.

"How many legs they got?" Wolffe asked Gregor, as the three clones moved down in front of the AT-TE's cockpit.

"Looks like four." Gregor replied, handing the macrobinoculars over to Rex.

"Four? But how are they not falling over?" Wolffe asked is disbelief.

"Would ya look at the size of those things?!" Gregor exclaimed.

"Huh. Reinforced armour plating, heavy cannons, and anti-personnel blasters, hm." Rex observed.

"I'm glad you guys are so excited. But, those giant death machines are on their way to blow us to bits!" Ezra pointed out. Rex didn't reply, instead climbing up to the walker's top deck.

"Wolffe, set vector two-niner-zero." He ordered, before jumping into the turret's gunner seat. Wolffe, Gregor and Zeb all rushed back inside.

"Wait, you're just gonna turn and run? Just like that?" Kanan asked.

"Well, if you've got a better idea sir, now's the time." Rex replied.

"I thought you clones loved to fight." Kanan responded.

"I do love a battle, but on my terms." Rex replied. "Gregor, drop the joopa. We gotta get moving!"

" _Aw, by-by, Big Bongo."_ Gregor replied. The enormous dead joopa then released from its spot hanging off the walker's right side, landing heavily on the ground with a resounding thud.

"Wolffe, turn one-eight-zero." Rex ordered.

" _Copy that."_ Wolffe responded. The AT-TE then lurched into a right-hand turn, completing the full 180° turn before continuing forward again, now heading right for the sandstorm. As they moved on, red blaster fire from the AT-ATs began raining down around them, somehow with none of it hitting the aging walker directly.

"Kanan, I'm not sure how far we'll get but, I think she'll fly." Sabine explained, stepping out of the _Phantom_.

"Good enough for me." Kanan replied, pulling out his comlink. "Zeb, we're going now!" He explained, running over towards the small craft.

"Too late, the walkers are already on top of us." Rex countered, causing Kanan to stop next to the main cannon turret..

"He's right Kanan, they'll shoot us down." Ezra agreed.

"How will going into that storm be any better?" Kanan asked.

"Well, the storm'll scramble the scanners. We'll all be blind." Sabine replied.

"But a Jedi won't." Rex added, looking right at Kanan.

"Alright. Everybody, inside!" he ordered, running for the walker's rear hatch.

"Sir, yes sir." Rex quietly replied, as the rest of them followed Kanan back inside the walker.

* * *

 **AN #3: This time, skipping past the scene inside the sandstorm, for the same reason as before; nothing is changed, and there's no real point in just recreating the entire scene. You guys can easily watch the episode if you want to enjoy that small skirmish.**

Shortly after the walker emerged out of the sandstorm, everyone minus Gregor and Wolffe rushed outside. Sabine and Ezra were waiting for them, with Ezra jumping out of the turret's gunner seat as they arrived.

"Great shot kid! Now get yourself moving! This is your only chance!" Rex said.

"What?! We can't leave now!" Ezra protested, still holding Rex's helmet.

"We have to get the information they gave us back to the Rebellion!" Kanan argued, before heading inside the _Phantom_. Zeb and Sabine followed him a few moments later.

"The other part of that mission is to bring Rex back with us! We can't just abandon them!" Ezra retorted.

"You're not abandoning anyone. We're covering your escape. Now move!" Rex replied. Ezra hesitated, before reluctantly handing the helmet back to its owner, then following Kanan inside the _Phantom_. Rex then climbed back into the turret's seat, as Ezra stood just inside the shuttle, his back facing the clone's. "We're soldiers, Ezra! This is what we were born to do!" Rex shouted, before turning away. Maral then entered the _Phantom_ as well, turning to face Rex while standing far enough inside for the shuttle's hatch to close.

"Captain!" Maral shouted, causing Rex to turn around once more. "Good luck!" Maral said, saluting the clone. Rex smiled, returning the salute, just as the _Phantom_ 's hatch closed. The small shuttle then lifted off, spinning around before flying off, heading out in front of the AT-TE, heading back towards the _Ghost_.

"Kanan, you know better than anyone. They won't give up. This fight…is gonna be their last." Ezra noted. Kanan appeared not to hear him, instead informing Hera of their status.

" _It's too bad about Captain Rex. But at least you got the intel. I'll rendezvous with you shortly."_ Her replied.

"Copy that." Kanan responded.

"What are we gonna tell Ahsoka? Rex was her friend, even though he was a clone." Ezra asked.

"I hate when he's right." Kanan muttered quietly, before spinning his seat around and standing up. "I've got my problem with clones, but I don't want those men to die."

"So, what's the plan?" Maral asked.

"Ezra, Zeb and I hijack one of the remaining walkers, then we'll use it to take out the last one. Sabine, you take control of the _Phantom_. Maral, you stay with Sabine."

"Sounds good to me." Maral replied. Kanan, Zeb and Ezra moved to the rear of the cabin, while Sabine and Maral moved to the front, the Mandalorian taking over the controls, turning the _Phantom_ around, heading back towards the battle. As the approached, Maral could see the AT-TE jammed up against the front legs of the closest AT-AT, smoking heavily. The smaller walker was also taking heavy blaster fire from the other AT-AT, but amazingly hadn't been destroyed yet. Sabine opened fire on the closest Imperial walker, even though the _Phantom_ 's cannons weren't powerful enough to inflict any real damage. Increasing their spped, she flew right between the AT-AT's legs, before pulling up into a near vertical climb, opening the hatch at the same time, forcing the others to grab onto something to stay upright. Kanan, Zeb and Ezra then let go, falling down onto the other AT-AT, now positioned directly below them. Maral couldn't tell if they'd landed safely, as Sabine closed the hatch almost as soon as the others were clear.

As they swung around, the two could see the now-commandeered AT-AT firing at the last remaining Imperial walker, its cannons blasting two sizeable holes in the walker's midsection armour. Seconds later, the AT-TE's main cannon fired into the walker's neck, which subsequently burst into flames, followed by the entire machine toppling over onto its side. As they watched, a single speeder bike emerged from the wreckage, speeding away with one of the AT-AT's pilots running on foot after it.

"I know we're supposed to hate Imperials, but that's just sad." Maral joked. Sabine let out a chuckle, clearly in agreement. As they flew over, the _Ghost_ swooped in over them, coming to a stop next to the hijacked AT-AT, where Kanan, Zeb and Ezra were already waiting atop the walker's head/cockpit area.

A short while later, the group plus Rex onboard the _Ghost_ , preparing to leave. Gregor and Wolffe had elected to stay behind, having already decided to make the captured AT-AT their new home, albeit after having patched up the hole that Kanan and Ezra had cut open when they hijacked it. Maral had also decided to leave his DLT-19 with the two clones, having decided to stick with the DC-15A. He was thoroughly impressed by its firepower, and had learned from Rex of its impressive range. Once he managed to sync the rifle's sights with his helmet, Maral knew the rifle would be very effective in the future. After a short journey through hyperspace, the Ghost crew plus one exited back into realspace, now within the small fleet that was Phoenix Squadron. As they flew through the small collection of ships, the _Liberator_ came into view ahead, just off their port bow. And Maral could tell that Rex and Ahsoka would be happy to see each other once again.

It was good to be home.

* * *

 **AN#4:** And that concludes Episodes 2 & 3 of Season 2! Hope you guys enjoyed it, 'cause it took a while to get this written. Mostly because I often can't find the motivation to write, mainly because I have to re-watch the episodes to make sure everything matches up, especially the dialogue. So I hope everyone appreciates it. As always, your reviews and criticisms are welcome, as long as they're constructive. Anzac-A1, out!


	3. Chapter 3: Stealth Strike

**AN:** Hey guys!

Sorry you all have had to wait so long for a new chapter, but I've either lacked the motivation, ideas, or just been plain busy. That and I've been trying to work out what ships/ships Maral and Tua will get at some point in the future. So far, I've gone through about 10-15 different ideas, and I've finally settled on one, so look forward to that. I'm sure it will surprise you! If you want, feel free to try and guess what it will be. Hint: It's bigger than the _Ghost._ A lot bigger.

But enough about that, enjoy the new chapter!

* * *

 _Chapter 3: Stealth Strike_

A weary Maral let out a sigh of relief, more or less collapsing onto his bunk onboard the _Ghost_ , somehow managing to remove his helmet and DC-15A rifle at the same time, dropping both items next to his bunk. Tua followed her boyfriend (she still felt warm and fuzzy whenever she said thought about it) into their room, but elected to sit down at the small table instead, divesting herself of her hat, which she unceremoniously dumped on the floor next to her.

"Are you doing okay?" Tua giggled, knowing that the former Stormtrooper was really just putting on an act. She knew him well enough to know that he tended not to complain about being tired, even when it was just the two of them.

"Yeah, I'm good. Things have just been pretty hectic lately, so I'm just glad for a bit of peace and quiet, even if it only lasts for a day or two." Maral replied.

"Yes, it has been rather…exciting recently." Tua sighed, thinking back on the past few weeks. Since Maral and the others had returned from Seelos with Captain Rex, a lot of significant events had occurred. First, Ezra, Zeb Sabine and Chopper had run into not one, but two new Inquisitors onboard an old Republic medical station, and barely managed to escape with some much-needed medical supplies. The a few days later, Ezra had gone off on his own little adventure, which included a run-in with former Weequay pirate Hondo Ohnaka, but in the course of doing so, also managed to procure a number of power generators for the people of Rinn, a frozen world whose inhabitants were desperately in need of said generators to keep from freezing to death.

After that, Phoenix Squadron had attempted to break through an Imperial blockade over the plant Ibaar to deliver supplies to the people there, who had just had their work quotas doubled and rations halved by the Empire. Even with the added firepower and numbers of Maral and Tua's TIE fighters, the run had failed, with the CR90 transport and Phoenix Leader being lost in the process. To beat the blockade, Hera, Zeb and Sabine were able to secure the prototype Blade Wing heavy assault starfighter. The powerful craft had turned the tide, destroying one of the two _Arquitens_ -class cruisers and allowing the _Ghost_ to make it through to deliver the supplies. And finally, what should have been a simple delivery mission for Sabine and Ezra had gone almost completely wrong, when the pair ran into an old friend of Sabine's; Ketsu Onyo, while attempting to deliver a droid carrying important information to the Havoc Outpost. In the end, Sabine convinced Ketsu to help them, and the mission was completed.

"Never a dull moment." Maral quipped. "Certainly can't complain about being bored." Before Tua could respond, Hera's voice came over the intercom.

" _Maral, Tua, we need both of you in the common room. Now."_ She said, before the intercom shut off again, causing the former Imperials looked at each other in confusion. Maral then sighed loudly, before forcing himself to his feet with a groan, grabbing his helmet and rifle from the floor.

"Aaaand here we go." He said, as Tua followed him out the door, having already replaced her hat.

"I wonder what the problem is?" she wondered aloud.

"My guess? Ezra's gotten himself into trouble… _again_." Maral offered, knowing that the young Padawan had an unnatural knack for finding some way to get into a tight spot. Before Tua could offer anything in reply, the pair arrived in the ship's common area, where Hera was already waiting, along with Zeb, Sabine and Kanan.

"So Hera, what's going on?" Maral asked.

"It's Ezra and Commander Sato. Remember how they went to investigate that patrol ship of ours that never came back?" Hera replied.

"Oh right, shouldn't they have arrived at the ship's last known location by now?" Tua asked.

"Exactly. Instead, we just received a distress call from Sato's ship. Here…" Hera explained, activating the table's holoprojection feature, at which point a hologram of Sato's upper torso and head appeared.

" _Phoenix Home to Ghost! We've been pulled out of hyperspace! The Empire-"_ he yelled, before the recording froze, cutting off whatever Sato was about to say.

"The transmission was jammed. But still, you can't pull a ship out of hyperspace because you never know exactly where it is. A tractor beam can't get a lock." Hera said.

"That's 'cause this isn't a tractor beam." Sabine interjected. "It's a gravity well. When I was at the Academy, they were developing a new cruiser with gravity well projectors powerful enough to pull a ship out of hyperspace." She explained.

"Maral, know anything about it?" Kanan asked.

"Not a lot, mostly just rumours. News like that doesn't really make out to Lothal that much. But I have heard about it." Maral offered. While he'd only ever heard the occasional bit of gossip, it always made sense to him that the Empire would be interested in a ship like that.

"Well it looks like they finished it." Kanan said.

"Mm, chances are they're still testing the system. If they follow Imperial procedure, the testing zone for this type of ship wouldn't be that large." Sabine countered. "You'll probably find it not far from where we lost contact with Commander Sato."

"Alright everybody, gear up." Kanan announced, getting to his feet. "We're going out there." He added, before heading towards the exit. Hera then jumped to her feet, grabbing Kanan's shoulder to stop him leaving the room.

"Not everybody." She replied, causing Kanan to turn around. "You, Rex and Maral will go to that system. Find that ship, and I bet you find Ezra and the others."

"Not Rex! I'll take Zeb, or Sabine." Kanan complained, his disdain for the former Captain evident.

"Rex's military experience will be invaluable. And…he can also impersonate a Stormtrooper." Hera explained.

"Right! That's because he _is_ a Stormtrooper!" Kana shot back, at which Maral frowned.

"Well _I_ was a Stormtrooper, but you seem okay with me." he argued.

"Because I at least know I can trust you." Kanan replied.

"Kanan, Rex was a _Clone_ Trooper." Hera pointed out.

"Same thing!"

"Kanan, _I_ sent Ezra. This is the only way."

"Alright, we'll get 'em back. All of them." Kanan agreed.

* * *

A short while later, Maral and Rex were gathered just inside the _Ghost_ 's boarding ramp, waiting for Kanan to join them. Maral was still wearing his Scout Trooper armour, but had chosen to leave his rifle in his room. Seeing as how they were going to have to blend in, the DC-15A wouldn't exactly have fitted the bill. Currently, Maral was leaning against the wall, while Rex checked one of his DC-17 pistols. Just then, the door slid open to at last reveal Kanan.

"For the record, this wasn't my idea." Kanan explained. Maral let out an exasperated sigh, shaking his head in frustration. He knew Kanan didn't entirely trust Rex, but this wasn't the time!

"Just try to act like a professional." Rex replied, apparently attempting to keep things as civil as possible.

"What if you get in there and forget whose side you're on?" Kanan countered.

" _I_ would never be on _their_ side, or wear that junk armour!" Rex protested. As fate would have it, this was the exact moment that Zeb and Sabine decided to arrive up the ramp, dragging two Stormtroopers and one Stormtrooper Commander with them.

"Here're your disguises." Zeb announced, dumping the still groaning troopers on the ground. Rex reluctantly made his way over to one of the regular troopers, pulling them man's helmet off.

"Perfect." He grumbled. Rex and Kanan then proceeded to don the armour of the two regular troopers, while Maral changed into the commander's armour, complete with the right-hand orange shoulder pauldron and E-11 blaster rifle. In addition, Sabine handed him an old Clone Trooper backpack that Rex had brought with him, only filled with thermal detonators. Given that Maral was the only one who had actually served as a Stormtrooper, he had the best chance of getting into the cruiser's power generator room and rigging it to blow once they'd freed Ezra, Sato, and his crew. "This garbage is nothing like Clone armour." Rex complained, as the trio made their way down the ramp.

"Looks a little tight on ya, old man." Kanan quipped, as Rex awkwardly adjusted the armour around his backside. Maral had to agree with the Jedi, Rex's armour _really_ did look tight-fitting, having definitely been made for someone much younger.

"Yeah? Well at least I know how to wear it." Rex replied, roughly adjusting Kanan's right-hand shoulder piece, which up until that point had been sticking up oddly. Kanan responded by shoving Rex's arm off, as Hera and two Rebel pilots joined them.

"Kanan, Rex, Maral. Once you're in, signal me. And I'll come in with Phoenix Squadron to blast you all out." Hera explained, indicating the two pilots standing behind her.

"How are we getting in, anyway?" Kanan asked.

" _Good question. So far I don't see how we're going to be ale to approach an Imperial cruiser without being blasted into space dust."_ Maral thought. Just then, a familiar noise from the adjacent landing bay answered his question. Turning around, Maral was greeted by familiar sight of a _Sentinel_ -class shuttle/landing craft. He could also make out Sabine in the cockpit, who gave them a thumbs-up, no doubt indicating her apparent success.

"How is it the Empire lets us keep stealing these things?" Kanan asked.

"Because they can easily afford to make more." Maral replied.

"Oh, I thought it was the same one we used before." Rex added. He certainly had a point, given that ALL Imperial ships looked pretty much exactly the same.

"Well, time's a-wasting. Let's get on with it." Maral announced, making his way towards the shuttle, with Kanan and Rex quickly following him. Once onboard, Maral and Rex took the pilot and co-pilot seats respectively, with Kanan and Chopper behind them. Once everyone was seated, and Sabine was clear, Maral lifted the shuttle into the air, then throttled up the engine array, boosting the craft upwards. "Chopper, you got Ezra's last known co-ordinates?"

"BWAA-WAAAH." Chopper replied, which Marla now knew meant 'yes'.

"Good, plug 'em in." Maral instructed. As Chopper did just that, the shuttle cleared Garel's atmosphere. Once clear, Maral engaged the hyperdrive, launching the shuttle into hyperspace, it's course set for Ezra…and the Imperial cruiser.

* * *

"I don't know why she does that." Kanan grumbled, indicating the artwork Sabine had added to the shuttle's cockpit door. The painting depicted the three men, Rex and Maral with their blasters, Kanan with his lightsaber. In Maral's opinion, he found his likeness pretty flattering.

"I believe it's called 'artistic expression'." Rex added.

"Yeah, well my expression is WRONG. I'm NOT happy about being on this mission." Kanan retorted, referring to the smile Sabine had given him in the painting.

"Really? _That_ wasn't clear." Rex replied sarcastically. Maral sighed, annoyed that Kanan still couldn't bring himself to let go of his past grudge with clones.

"HEHEHEHEHE." Chopper giggled, clearly enjoying the 'entertainment' in front of him.

"Once we board this thing, Chopper will plug in, find out where they have our people, and we get them out of there." Kanan explained.

"We've got to disable this weapon, whatever it is. If the Empire is able to intercept our ships in hyperspace, this rebel movement won't last long." Rex pointed out.

"I hear what you're saying, but remember; this is a rescue mission first, and foremost". Kanan replied.

"We're coming up on Ezra's last known position." Maral told them, drawing everyone's attention back to the shuttle's canopy windows.

"Let's just hope we can find that ship fast." Rex said. As the shuttle exited hyperspace, the team immediately spotted their target. The cruiser was clearly smaller than an _Imperial I_ -class star destroyer, given the fact that it didn't dwarf the two _Arquitens_ -class cruisers flanking it. The ship also sported four large spherical bulges in its hull, which were clearly the gravity well projectors that Sabine had warned them about. Before they could make any more observations, the cruiser in question suddenly contacted the shuttle.

" _Shuttle S257, this is a restricted area."_

"I'll handle this." Maral whispered, before responding to the transmission. "Copy that, sir. However, this is an emergency. We have a 1-5-7, repeat a 1-5-7."

" _You are not cleared. This is a 6-7-5 Test Zone, and off-limits to you, S257."_ The cruiser replied, as Maral steered the shuttle towards the massive ship.

"I understand. Unfortunately, unless we can make repairs soon, our systems indicate we'll have a 3376 on our hands. With all due respect sir, you don't want a 3376 off your starboard bow." Maral explained.

" _Shuttle S257, requesting your emergency access code."_

"Copy that, sir. Priority Protocol Seven-Ten-Niner-Five." Maral replied.

"This is the stuff I can't stand; protocol nonsense." Kanan muttered.

" _Stand by for code check."_ The cruiser replied, before closing the line.

"Good thing I still remember this stuff. Don't worry, the codes are still good." Maral assured the others.

" _Copy, Shuttle S257. You are cleared to proceed on Heading One-Five-Niner-Nine to Hangar 11."_

"Thank you, sir." Maral replied. Closing the line again and turning the shuttle towards the cruiser's ventral hangar bay, where the three of them could see Sato's CR90 corvette docked to the large ship. Once Maral had set the shuttle down, the team moved down to the ship's entry/exit ramp, donning their helmets once there.

"Well, all set?" Rex asked.

"I guess." Kanan replied, just as Chopper opened the ramp. "This must be just like old times." He remarked, as the group exited the shuttle. Maral took the lead, with Kanan, Rex and Chopper behind him. As they crossed the hangar deck, Maral noted the Stormtroopers patrolling the area, particularly those on the upper walkways. If they were forced to go loud, returning to the shuttle would be nearly impossible.

"Now I remember why I wanted to leave." Maral replied.

"Just follow my lead and you'll be okay." Rex told Kanan.

"No, you follow my lead." Kanan retorted.

"How about both of you follow _my_ lead? " Maral said. While he kept his voice quiet, his tone left no doubt as to his frustration with the pairs' argument. Rex and Kanan chose to keep their mouths shut, as the team approached the hangar exit, guarded by two Stormtroopers, one on each side.

"Command Deck says you need to make your repairs and depart." One of the Stormtroopers explained, as the pair stepped forward to meet the disguised Rebels. Having already anticipated such a reception, Maral knew exactly what to do.

"Trooper, explain our situation to these two, will you?" Maral asked, signalling for Kanan to use one of his mind tricks to get them through.

"We need to get to Maintenance." Kanan said, at the same time waving his hand in front of the Stormtrooper's face.

"You need to get to Maintenance." The man replied, his flat tone a clear sign that Kanan's trick had worked flawlessly.

"We can go on our way."

"You can go on your way." With that, the two soldiers stepped back into their original positions, opening the door to allow the group to exit the hangar.

"Not bad, I've seen better." Rex remarked.

"Eh, maybe I'll practice on you some time." Kanan replied, as they four rebels arrived at a droid access port.

"Chopper, plug in and find Ezra and the others." Maral instructed. Chopper immediately hooked in, before disconnecting a few seconds later.

"BWA-WAHWAH, BWA-WAHWAH. BWA-BWA BWA BWA-WAH." Chopper replied. Apparently, the Admiral in command of the ship had ordered that Ezra be transferred to a more secure cell, indicating that he was aware of who Ezra was.

"They know who Ezra is; he's being transferred to a secure cell. We need to move." Maral explained. Rex and Kanan nodded, after which the group continued on, setting a brisk pace, while at the same time trying not to be conspicuous. Soon they arrived at one of the ship's elevator bays, where they managed to squeeze into one of the clearly too small lifts. Once again, Maral's former life served him well, as the others clearly had no idea of how to operate the lift. After a short ride down, the group exited onto the ship's detention level. Before anyone could say anything, they heard blaster fire coming from a few corridors down. Kanan and Rex immediately took off, leaving Chopper and Maral behind. "You know Chop, I'm starting to think the two of us are the only sensible ones on this mission." Maral grumbled.

"BWA WAH." Chopper replied, saying that he agreed, before the pair moved to catch up with the Jedi and Clone, Chopper deciding to take the lead. As they rounded a corner, they were greeted by the sight of Kanan and Rex lying on the floor, clearly having been stunned by Ezra, who currently had his lightsaber out.

"Chopper?!" Ezra exclaimed, clearly surprised to see the small droid.

"And me. Good to see you're doing okay." Maral added, removing his helmet as he did so.

"Wait! Oh, oh no!" Ezra exclaimed, suddenly realising what he'd just done. He quickly knelt down and removed Kanan and Rex's helmets, confirming his fears, while the two men groaned as the effects of the stun blasts wore off.

"I knew they shouldn't have run off like that." Maral quipped.

"Kanan!" Ezra exclaimed, grabbing the older Jedi by his shoulders and shaking him back and forth, trying to rouse him out of his current state, before letting him go, after which Kanan was able to keep his body upright on his own, though he was clearly still dazed. "Rex! Rex, come on!" Ezra continued, repeating the same process on Rex.

"What just happened?" Kanan asked, having clearly recovered from the stun already.

"Oh-I-Did you seem them?! We were SO outnumbered! There was a…firefight! A-A BIG firefight actually! You guys fought great!" Ezra exclaimed. Maral had to fight hard not to burst out laughing at Ezra's frantic attempt to cover up his stunning of the two men just moments earlier.

"Ugh, thanks. All I saw was you." Kanan replied, somehow having actually bought Ezra's story. But then Chopper decided to step in, projecting a hologram of Ezra blasting Kanan and Rex. The quirky little droid even decided to loop the footage for good measure.

"And _that_ is why we don't just charge in blindly." Maral said, not bothering to hide the 'I told you so' look on his face.

"You shot us! I can't believe you shot us!" Kanan exclaimed in indignation.

"Uh-I mean-You-You were dressed like Stormtroopers!" Ezra protested.

"Yeah!" Kanan replied sarcastically.

"You shot us!" Rex exclaimed, laughing as he and Kanan got back on their feet, picking up their helmets and blasters from the floor, where they'd ended up

"I-I set it to stun!" Ezra frantically replied.

"Yeah, well you should've used kill!" Rex joked.

"What?!" Kanan exclaimed.

"Well, just in case it wasn't us, I mean-" Rex started to explain, before Kanan cut him off.

"Argh, this armour doesn't protect you from anything!" the Jedi complained.

"Well, I told you!" Rex replied, tapping his helmet with the muzzle of his blaster to emphasise his point.

"Now's not the time!" Ezra interrupted. "We gotta find Sato _and_ sabotage this ship. They have this gravity weapon thing that-You know all this…" he finished, realising that Maral and the others would've figured that much out already.

"So, what's your plan?" Rex asked, clearly eager to get moving.

"Well, we should probably split up. I'll take Chopper, and he can get me to the reactor that powers this thing. You guys bust out Sato." Ezra explained.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, we are NOT splitting up. Let's get Sato and get out of here!" Kanan countered.

"The kid's right, we have to destroy this ship!" Rex fired back, moving to confront Kanan.

"Do you know how many Stormtroopers are heading this way?!" Kanan replied. He and Rex continued arguing, shortening the distance between them with every word.

"Doesn't matter-!"

"We cannot afford to separate-!"

"We have to protect the fleet-!"

"Kanan, Rex, enough!" Maral shouted, ignoring the fact that the noise would potentially bring even more attention to them. Nevertheless, his commanding tone caused the rest of the group to instantly stop talking and focus their attention on the former Stormtrooper. "This is neither the time nor the place for the two of you to have shouting match! We only have a few minutes at best before the Imperials realise Ezra's escaped, so from now on, we do things MY way! Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Ezra replied, snapping off a mock salute. Kanan and Rex elected to remain silent, clearly having been sufficiently chastised.

"Good. Now then, here's the plan; we'll have a better chance of getting through this if we split up. Kanan, Rex, the two of you will make your way to where they're keeping Sato and his crew. Get them out, then contact us and get back to Sato's ship. We'll meet you there." Maral explained. The two men nodded their understanding in reply, before putting their helmets back on. Satisfied, Maral then turned to Ezra. "Ezra, while they do their job, I need you to create a distraction. Get the Imperials to focus on you as much as possible, then make a break for the ship as soon as you hear from Kanan and Rex. Got it?"

"No problem, it's what I do best." Ezra proudly boasted. "Wait, what about you and Chopper?"

"While the rest of you are rescuing Sato, Chopper and I will make our way to the ship's reactor." Maral explained, indicating the backpack he'd been carrying. "Sabine gave me enough thermal detonators to blow the reactor to kingdom come. I'll set the charges, and trigger them once get clear of the ship."

"Can't wait to see that!" Ezra replied. Maral nodded in response.

"Alright, everyone knows where they're going?" Maral asked, receiving three nods and a sound of affirmation from Chopper in reply. "Good, let's do this." Maral announced, donning his helmet as he did so. "Move out!"

* * *

" _Locking down, secure Detention Block."_ Maral heard the announcement through his helmet's internal com-link, as he and Chopper proceeded towards the reactor, located deep inside the ship. It meant that the Imperials knew that Ezra was out, but it also seemed as though they were unaware that Ezra wasn't operating alone, which worked in the Rebels' favour.

" _So far, so good. It won't last forever, though."_ Maral thought. After passing through a few more corridors, he and Chopper were nearing the entrance to the ships' reactor control room. Thankfully, Maral's Stormtrooper Commander armour had meant that no one had challenged him thus far. However, the control room entrance would be a different matter entirely, given how the reactor was arguably the most important part of the vessel, even more so than the gravity well projectors. Peeking around the corner, Maral quickly assessed the situation.

The control room entrance was currently guarded by two regular Stormtroopers, with no additional guards in sight. In order to get inside, the two guards would need to be 'removed' somehow. While simply blasting them was the simplest option, doing so would almost certainly draw attention, thus breaking Maral's cover.

" _Alright, time to play the part. Here's hoping this works."_ Maral thought. He then proceeded to run round the corner and over to the entrance, with Chopper following close behind, intentionally making it seem as if he had urgent news or needed help.

"Sir, what's happening?" one of the Stormtroopers asked, clearly having bought Maral's act.

"One of the Rebels has escaped. Both of you, head towards the hangar bays. Our orders are to secure them immediately." Maral explained.

"But sir, our orders are to guard this control room." The second trooper protested.

"Don't worry about that, I'll take over for you. Now get moving!" Maral ordered.

"Yes, sir!" the troopers responded, before dashing off in the direction Maral had just come from. Once they were out of sight, Maral breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, that went well." He said. "Chopper, can you get this door open?"

"BWA-WAH." Chopper replied, saluting Maral with his manipulator, before plugging into the door's droid access port. After a couple of seconds, the doors slid open, revealing the somewhat expansive room within. A long walkway stretched the entire length of the room, with four large, vertical, cylindrical structures running from the ceiling, down to the reactor below, located roughly in the centre of the enormous space. Thankfully, the room appeared to be empty, with no personnel manning the consoles located in front of each cylindrical structure.

 **[AN #2: In case you're wondering, the Interdictor's reactor room in this story looks basically the same as the one where Kanan defeats the Grand Inquisitor at the end of Season 1.]**

"Okay Chop, stay here and keep this door shut." Maral ordered, to which the droid replied with an affirmation. "I'll see about getting this place rigged up. Shouldn't take long." Hurrying over to the console area, he pulled his backpack off and set it down against one of the consoles. Opening the pack, Maral then proceeded to place thermal detonators on as much of the structures as he could reach. Once triggered, they would bring the cylinders crashing down, breaching the reactor shell and causing the reactor to annihilate itself, along with the entire ship. Having just finished placing final charge, a sudden beeping from his handheld com-link drew Maral's attention. Removing his helmet, Maral grabbed the small device and brought it up to his face.

" _Maral, Ezra, we've got Sato and his crew. We're heading to his ship now."_ Kanan informed.

"Understood, good work. Ezra, you copy that?" Maral asked.

" _I got it, I'm on my way."_ Ezra replied.

"Excellent, I just finished up now. I'll meet you there." Maral replied, replacing the com-link on his belt and putting his helmet back on. Almost immediately, he heard an unmistakably distressed noise from Chopper.

"BWA BWA-WAH!" Chopper exclaimed. Apparently, the Imperials were attempting to force their way into the control room.

"Just when everything was going so well!" Maral fumed, leaving the backpack where it was and picking up his blaster. "Chopper, open it up!" The droid complied, opening the door, before quickly hiding himself to side, as four Stormtroopers poured in. The soldiers had barely taken five steps, before they more or less ran into blaster fire from Maral's E-11, with the former Stormtrooper having taken a kneeling position, firing tight, controlled bursts of fire. Trapped by the walkway's narrowness, the troopers were gunned down in seconds, with only the last one managing to return fire. Two crimson bolts of plasma flew from his blaster's muzzle, with one of the bolts just grazing Maral's pauldron, doing little in the way of real damage.

"BWA WAH?"

"Don't worry, I'm good. Let's go, we've got a ship to catch." Chopper nodded, exiting the control room, with Maral following. The droid closed and sealed the door behind them, before the pair made a break towards the main hanger, where Sato's CR90 corvette was docked. By the time they arrived on board the ship, Ezra, Sato and the crew were already there, but Kanan and Rex were missing. "Where are Kanan and Rex?" Maral demanded, removing his helmet.

"Rex stayed behind to buy us time. Then Kanan decided to go back for him." Ezra explained. "They said they've got a way out, and told us not to wait." Maral smiled at Ezra's reply. It seemed that Kanan had gotten over his grudge against clones, at least a little bit.

"Then we'd better get going. Commander?" Maral replied, addressing Sato.

"Agreed." Sato replied. "Pilot, disengage." The pilot detached the corvette from the docking clamps, lowering the ship out of the hanger, engaging the main engines once they were clear of the cruiser's hull. Shortly after, everyone heard the distinctive 'thud' as Kanan and Rex's way out, an escape pod, docked with the ship. As they pulled out in front of the cruiser, the two men arrived on the corvette's bridge, as the ship turned to the right, preparing to jump to hyperspace. As it turned, everyone could see the cruiser appearing again off their starboard side. At that, Maral pulled out the trigger Sabine had given him, which was currently linked to all the detonators he'd set earlier.

"And…goodbye." Maral announced, pressing the button. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then, after about ten seconds of tense waiting, the central part of the cruiser disintegrated in a massive, blinding explosion, tearing the rest of the huge ship apart like it was nothing. The resulting hail of debris slammed into the two _Arquitens_ -class ships, overwhelming their shields before destroying them as well. The entire bridge erupted with cheers and shouts of jubilation, although Sato refrained from any such outbursts.

"Well done, all of you." Sato congratulated them. "Pilot, take us home." The pilot nodded, engaging the hyperdrive. Moments later, all that remained was the twisted and charred wreckage of Imperial ships.

* * *

 **AN #3:** Aaaand…we're done! Sorry, if the ending felt a bit abrupt, but I didn't really have any good idea of how to end the chapter. I could've just copied the show, but then I decided there wasn't much point in doing that. There also wasn't much Maral/Tua action, but I promise, the next chapter will have quite a bit, including a significant development for Tua herself. Those of you who've voted in/looked at the poll I set up should be able to guess what that is (Note: the poll is now closed, but do feel free to keep sending me any suggestions for the story. I am toying around with the idea of having Rex run into Cody at some point.). Also, hope you like how I paired Maral up with Chopper. I thought having them get along would be a nice touch.

All the same, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, especially since you've been waiting patiently for it for a while now. Good news for you and those that are fans of my Code Geass story _A New Signature_ , is that I have more free time now, so I'll be starting work on the next chapter for that story very soon. So look forward to that.

Until then,

Anzac-A1, out!


End file.
